Fake Smile
by Always NaruIno
Summary: Lucy smiles with her friends to show her happiness. But behind the scenes she takes razors to her wrists. How will Natsu react when he walks in on her? How heartbroken will he be? -NaLu- *Trigger Warning, dark, depression, self-harm, eating disorder, rape and lemons. Read at your own risk.*
1. Pain

"Did you see when I smashed his face in and almost knocked his body into another dimension? Huh? Did ya?" Natsu asks, pestering Lucy.

Lucy only rolls her eyes at his behaviour. "Yes, yes Natsu."

"Natsu you dipshit, you did nothing." Gray argues. "I was the one to get the treasure in time before you could send it into flames."

"What was that ice cube?" Natsu asks, jumping to Gray's side.

The two bud heads. "I'll take you on any day, mini-oven."

Erza punches both of them individually on the head. Lucy jumps and takes a good couple of steps back. "I don't want to hear any of you guys arguing when we're so close to the guild. At least walk in nicely and greet everyone before you decide to fight."

Natsu crosses his arms and pouts. Gray rolls his eyes and sticks his head up in the opposite direction. Lucy comes up from behind and pats their backs. "It's alright guys! We're almost there anyway, so you two can get back to your bickering in about five minutes."

"Not soon enough." Natsu mutters. "I'm ready to turn him to ashes."

"What was that curry?" Gray asks. Erza takes a menacing look over her shoulder, sending a shiver down all their backs. Gray clears his throat. "I mean, good to know, Natsu!"

Erza smiles slightly and continues leading the group to the entrance of the guild. Happy flies over their heads. "Say, Natsu, that was a pretty tough fight there, hey?"

Natsu looks up at the blue exceed. "Huh? Oh yeah, it was pretty difficult."

"Is that why Lucy didn't do anything?" Happy jokes, snickering behind his hand.

Lucy freezes. Time stops for her. It's true, she had done nothing while on the job. She was just a liability. Erza even had to save her once. But these dark thoughts can wait until later. Lucy forces a smile and a little giggle. Natsu just shakes his head at his friend.

"Happy that's nothing to joke about." Gray says angrily. "Especially when you almost got hit by Natsu's flames if it weren't for me."

Happy scowls. "I was just kidding."

Gray looks as if he's about to continue defending his blonde friend until he feels a soft hand on his bare shoulder. He takes a look over at Lucy who gives him a warm and sincere smile. "It's alright, Happy's only kidding. Let's just leave it."

"See, Lucy understands!" Happy says.

After a moment of silence Natsu speaks up. "Even if she understands, you need to understand that it's not okay to say stuff like that."

"Natsu." Lucy says with a shake of her head.

"We're here!" Erza announces. "Now go greet everyone so you can get back to your stupid bickering."

Natsu and Gray charge in, immediately announcing their arrival. They make sure to greet every member as fast as possible. Happy dashes in to find Carla. Erza herself heads to the bar to get a slice of her cherry cheesecake. The now forgotten about blonde turns away from the guild doors. Deciding on spending the night in her house alone quietly would be nice.

As Lucy takes each step her shoulders sink more and more. So do her mood and thoughts. Happy's comment rings in her head over and over again. "That was a pretty tough fight, so of course Lucy did nothing." Lucy mimics. "Because I'm weak, hey? Because I'm useless and have no purpose, right?"

The blonde enters her apartment. One thought crosses her mind. _Razors. Where are my razors._

Their last mission had taken four days. Four days of suppressing the evil thoughts in her head. Four days of suppressing the urge to find something sharp to slice her wrists with. Four days of having to eat. She ate three meals a day with her friends. It made her feel disgusting and fat. It took a lot of effort to keep the food down.

Lucy takes impatient steps to her washroom. She pulls a drawer open and grabs for one of her many razors in the little box at the back. Before she can take the blades to her wrist, oh how bad she wanted to, she fills the tub with water. As the water rises Lucy hunches over the toilet, sticking two fingers to the very back of her throat.

The vomit comes up. It racks her body and leaves her dry-heaving. The taste is both disgusting but satisfying. She does it again. And again. Until the bath has risen to a good height. Lucy turns off the water and strips down her clothes revealing the plenty of scars left around her body.

She sinks herself into the hot water. Once settled she takes the first cut in a while. A hiss escapes Lucy's lips. She sees red and goes for more. Two cuts lead to six. Blood drips from her wrist and into the water, creating a bloody color. Lucy sinks her arm into the water and allows it to rinse the blood out.

Her head lies back on the bathtub as she takes deep breaths. A sinister smile graces her lips. All the pressure leaves her body and she's left happy, even for just a moment. But after a while, the pain comes back. Then the hatred. Lucy takes a look at the new and old scars. It's ugly. She's ugly. Each cut brings back a terrible memory.

Lucy stands and drains the water from the tub. She rinses herself off and takes a proper shower before heading out and dressing in her pajamas. With winter nearing, Lucy has been wearing long sleeves day and night. She's always grateful for winter. It means she can her wrists without suspicion. During hotter seasons she's forced to cut her thighs and hips instead.

With a towel pressed against her fresh cuts, Lucy exits the washroom and heads to her laptop. She spends the night looking up thinspo and reminding herself why she wants to lose all the weight. She can't give in to the pleasure of food. No matter what.

If she does, how can she expect Natsu to like a fat cow? Tears fill Lucy's eyes as she realizes Natsu will never love her. He's too good, with girls at his feet. Girls who are prettier, more deserving, skinnier and worth a lot more. Even dreaming about it is setting her up for heartbreak. But yet she can't stop. She loves him.

"Natsu..." Lucy croaks, shutting her laptop. She flips off the lights and crawls under to many covers, surrounding herself in darkness. This is where she lets her cries go unheard.

* * *

**A/N:** _I'm not a cutter but my best friend was. I know plenty of people who do. I suffered depression and more than half my friends and I myself have had or have eating disorders. This is a pretty sick and twisted chapter but trust me it won't be this dark later on. _

**Note: Depression, self-harm, anorexia, bulimia, suicide, etc is nothing to _EVER_ joke about. Talk to someone if you're suffering.**


	2. Addiction

"Cheers to another job well done!" Natsu announces, pumping a mug of beer into the air, followed by the rest of the team. The group have returned from their second successful mission of the week and they were very joyous to say the least.

"I'm so glad I don't have to worry about this months rent now." Lucy says with a smile.

Natsu drapes an arm around Lucy's delicate shoulders. "All thanks to me, right?"

A blush forms on Lucy's cheeks. She doesn't have time to answer as the conversation topic is changed. Erza talks about how she's impressed with everyone's improvements. Natsu's arms remains around Lucy's shoulder for quite a while. It isn't until Lucy excuses herself to the washroom that he finally releases her from his hold.

He had touched her. For a while. Why though? Is he leading her on? His actions don't make sense, but even so, Lucy's heart is racing and she's happy for a moment. Until she realizes that it means nothing and that even if it did, Natsu could only mean his actions in a friendly way. Friend. That's all she'll ever be to him.

Lucy takes stiff steps to the washroom. She enters a stall and locks it behind her immediately. She pulls out a blade she keeps in her boot and runs the familiar motion over her arm. She places her arm over the toilet to allow the blood to fall into the toilet and not make a mess. The dark richness of the blood seeps from her arms.

Lucy takes deeps breaths. She couldn't wait until she had gotten home, she had to do it in that instant. The need had grown inside of her so much that she nearly took out the blade in the middle of the mission. Maybe she should stop going on missions all together. Maybe she should stop _living_ all together.

After a while Lucy grabs a bunch of toilet paper and presses hard on her cuts to force it to stop bleeding. She throws the dirty toilet paper into the toilet and replaces them with clean ones. She rolls down her sleeve over the toilet paper and flushes the toilet before heading out of the washroom.

"Lucy? What took so long?" Natsu questions. He had been waiting just outside the bathroom doors the moment Lucy had left. Lucy gasps at the sight of Natsu.

"Natsu! Don't invade a women's privacy!" Lucy scolds.

Natsu's eyebrows furrow as he changes the subject. "You wanna grab something to eat?"

"No, I think I'd rather head home. I'm tired and I need some rest." Lucy lies. The word food scares her. Just the thought of it makes her feel fat. A sudden urge to look at thinspo rushes through her. She needs to leave. Now. "Well, see you tomorrow Natsu!"

Lucy waves and dashes out the guild before Natsu could get in another word. Natsu watches the blonde girl leave and can't help but be filled with disappointment. Suddenly someone taps his shoulder. Natsu turns around to find Lisanna with her hands behind her back and bright smile across her face. "Do you want to grab something to eat with me?"

Natsu shrugs but doesn't feel any less disappointed. "Sure thing Lisanna."

Lucy overhears the words exchange just as she leaves the building. Tears fill her eyes. Of course Natsu would want to eat with Lisanna. She's so much prettier and kinder and skinnier and perfect. Way better than Lucy. Lucy sobs as she walks home, ready to take the blade her her skin again when she reaches home.

The two childhood friends head off to the bar section. Natsu doesn't speak, just makes grunts to answer Lisanna's questions. He sits around and mopes. He doesn't even eat. Lisanna sighs and pats him on the shoulder.

"Natsu, what's the matter?" Lisanna asks kindly, in her friendly way.

Natsu's head picks up for a moment to only drop the next. "It's Lucy. Lately I haven't gotten to talk to her just the two of us. She always declines my offers. I don't know why, it's always a different excuse. I'm beginning to think she hates me."

"She could never hate you Natsu." Lisanna says and lets out a little giggle. "In fact, I believe she may have other feelings for you. Certain feelings you don't have for just anyone."

Natsu rolls his eyes. "Oh please, Lucy is not interested in me that way. It's nice of you to say and try to make me feel better but it's not true."

"Hey, Natsu, take this from a third person's perspective. The whole guild can see how much you like her. Well, everyone except Lucy of course. And honestly, she's in love with you just as much." Lisanna says.

Natsu laughs. "Okay, stop. She doesn't have those types of feelings for me."

"But you do to her, right?"

Natsu doesn't respond. Instead he pushes back his chair and decides to pay Lucy a visit. Sitting around being upset and taking to Lisanna about nonsense is not going to make him feel any better. The only he wants to do is visit Lucy. She always made him feel better. About anything.

* * *

Lucy stares at the wide gash she made about an hour ago. After looking at a few new pictures on instagram, she decided to slash her wrists more. As she does, she stares at all her hideous scars. Oh how much she hates herself. She uses this hatred to run the blade over her wrist, over and over again.

When she feels as if she's had enough, she lays back against the bathroom wall and stares at the ceiling. Tears stream down her face as she feels broken inside. If only someone actually cared. If only someone was actually there for her. If only-

"L-Lucy?" Natsu asks. Lucy whips her head towards the door. Natsu stands in the doorway, one hand on the bathroom door.

* * *

**A/N:** _Sorry guys, I probably wrote this at a bad time because I'm in the middle of writing another story which I am more devoted to, as you can tell by the lengths of these chapters compared to those of my other story. I promise I'll try my best but this is not my first priority. I'm glad so many of you are enjoying it and sending it love. I appreciate it and I hope I won't let you down. I truly am sorry at the short lengths of the chapters._


	3. Nightmare

First Natsu stares at Lucy's shocked face before looking down at her bloody wrist. A razor is held in her other hand. Blood. Lucy's blood. Everywhere. Natsu can feel his world shatter and crash before him. Confusion racks his brain. It's too much to handle. So many questions go through his head but he can't speak. Suddenly a deep ache hurts both his head and chest. He clenches his teeth and eyes. The sight is too much, he has to go.

As Natsu turns his back on the scene Lucy lets out a deep sob. She cries out "Natsu!"

Natsu tries to exit the scene but only makes it to Lucy's bed before crashing. He had fainted from the shock. Lucy had never seen Natsu likes this before. She covers her face with her hands, crying buckets of tears. She begins to panic. What is Natsu going to think? What will he do? What if he tells the guild? What if... he doesn't care?

Nonsense. The way he just reacted says otherwise.

Reaching for a towel to clean up Lucy continues to sob. She disappointed him. What will he think of her now? Will he ever look at her the same way? What will she say to him? Lucy feels like slapping herself. Why must she be cursed with this sickness? Why her?

There's a lot of blood on the floor. A lot. Lucy doesn't usually bleed this much. It's probably the delay of cleaning that she lost more blood than usual.

Maybe if Lucy pretends this never happened everything will be okay! She could say Natsu was so tired he passed out on her bed and everything was a nightmare. Yes! Good idea! Natsu would fall for that. Well, even if he doesn't, he'll _want_ to believe that's the case.

Lucy gets to work, cleaning the bathroom spotless. She hides her razors in the very back of her drawer. She prepares tea for when Natsu does awake. She washes her towels and clothes stained with blood. What was she forgetting?

Her wrist. Lucy facepalms herself from the idiocy. She enters her room quietly, reaches her drawer and uses al types of makeup on her wrist. Foundation, cover-up, and whatever else matched her skin colour. It stings on the fresh cuts but Lucy tries to ignore the pain. Instead she keeps in her mind that Natsu can wake up any minute so she should hurry.

When finally complete Lucy looks over at Natsu. His features are tight and clenched. It does look like he's having a nightmare. But even through his sleep an emotion sticks out to Lucy. Betrayal. Lucy covers her mouth with her hand to muffle a sob. The tears begin to fall again. She leaves to room and goes to prepare Natsu a meal. It has to look as normal as possible. Maybe she should get Happy over too.

Without a minute to spare Lucy pulls on her sneakers and runs. She runs all the way to the guild without stopping. Even when her lungs burn and her legs feel like giving out she runs. She almost can't make the sudden turn into the guild and has to grip the side of the build to into. A couple of people send her a questioning glance before returning to their conversations.

Lucy searches for a certain blue exceed. She flinches when a hand settles on her shoulder. "Lucy?"

Lucy turns to see Gray standing behind her. Juvia stands behind the ice-mage, sending death glares and warnings. Lucy ignores them. Gray passes Lucy a bottle of water. "You need a drink?"

Lucy sighs with relief and gratitude. "Thanks Gray." Lucy takes the water bottle and downs it. Half way down she stops to take huge pants before drinking the rest of the water. When she's done she sees a worried look over both Gray and Juvia's face. They seem to be asking what the matter is without really speaking. Lucy shakes her head. "Where's Happy?"

"Over by the stage with Wendy and Carla. Why? What's the matter?" Gray questions.

Lucy is already half way to the stage. "Nothing important! Thanks Gray!"

Lucy rolls her eyes when she sees Happy continuously try to gain Carla's attention but fails. Lucy picks up the blue exceed much to his struggle and complaints. She exits the building with Happy tight in her arms, heading straight home.

"Someone help! Lucy is kidnapping me!" Happy calls out to the rest of the guild. No one pays any attention. Carla sends Lucy a grateful look even. "Let go of me Lucy! Natsu won't be happy!"

Natsu's not happy anyway, Lucy thinks to herself. Instead she says, "Natsu passed out on my bed all of a sudden. I thought maybe he'd be glad to see you when he wakes up. That's it."

"That's it?" Happy says suspiciously. "Lucy did you rape Natsu?"

Lucy tightens her hold on Happy to make him squeak. "Don't mention anything about me kidnapping you. Tell Natsu he was just tired and passed out, alright?"

Happy gasps. "You _did_ rape him!"

"No you damn feline! I did not rape Natsu!" Lucy shouts. "If you tell him that he just passed out and that you were always there then I'll barbecue you five fishes, with extra extra barbecue sauce. I'll even add an extra one so you can give it to Carla."

Happy shrugs. "Alright. But why? If you didn't rape him, what happened?"

Lucy thinks through a couple of excuses before coming up with, "I accidentally knocked him out with a pan because he was being creepy and annoying. Don't tell him that though! Or you're dead meat!"

Happy laughs. "You're a meany Lucy! But okay."

Lucy sighs in relief as they reach her house. She lets happy down and lets him go check on Natsu as she sets out tea and ice cream on a tray. She takes the treats into her room to find Natsu already sitting up in the bed, seemingly just woken up.

"Finally awake Natsu?" Lucy says sweetly. She doesn't look at him, instead places the tray on the bedside table for him. He doesn't reply to her. "You must have been so tired! I can't believe you just passed out when you got in my house. I made you some tea but I know you like ice cream so I brought you some of that too."

Happy snickers. "Lucy raped you Natsu!"

"YOU DAMN FELINE I TOLD YOU TO SHUT YOUR FACE!" Lucy yells. "Come here so I can roast you!"

Happy flies up to the ceiling while laughing. "Then she hit you in the head with a pan Natsu!"

"YAH!" Lucy screams, jumping up to catch the flying cat.

Suddenly, with a low growl, Natsu says with a low and dangerous tone, "Happy, go home."

Lucy freezes and shudders at his tone. Happy looks scared of Natsu. This is a side neither of them had seen from Natsu. His head is hanging low and his hair hides his face. Happy complies and flies out the window almost immediately. Something about Natsu screams death. Holy shit he's gonna kill Lucy.

For once in her lifetime Lucy wishes Happy would have stayed. Slowly Natsu raises from the bed. He takes steps towards Lucy. Lucy backs up until she's against the wall. Natsu doesn't hesitate. He lifts his head and punches the wall next to Lucy's head. Lucy flinches.

Natsu leaves his fist against the wall and finally looks Lucy straight in the eyes. Lucy's eyes water when she sees Natsu's own tears. Natsu removes his fist from the wall. Lucy shuts her eyes and prepares for a blow. Instead rough hands pull her forward and wrap around her tightly.

"Why?" Natsu asks quietly. The two both shake with tears.

* * *

**A/N:** _Omfg Episode 176~ Nalu galore!_

_I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Leave a review. :)_


	4. Secrets Revealed

Silence. The only noise is the sound of the clock ticking. Both Lucy and Natsu's worlds have stopped and yet time continues to tick. They sit across from one another on Lucy's bed. Not a single word has been muttered yet.

Natsu's looking pretty rough. He can't understand. Every once in a while he opens his mouth as if to speak but doesn't know what the correct words would be to say. Lucy just feels sorry but can't bring herself to talk about her problems. She feels sorry for shocking Natsu. But most of all she's sorry for disappointing him.

"Your ice cream is melting." Lucy says in a hoarse voice.

"I hate ice cream." Natsu says sharply.

"Oh," Lucy feels embarrassed. Of course. Gray is the one who likes ice cream.

"How long?" Natsu suddenly asks. You can hear the heartbreak in his voice. It's demanding and angry but most of all hurt. Lucy could go on and on about how he sounded. So many emotions, thoughts and feeling have been going around.

"How long what?" Lucy pretends to not know. It's easier this way. Maybe he'll get the message that she doesn't want to talk a out it.

"I'm not in the mood so don't play dumb. _How long?_" Natsu asks more forcefully.

Lucy's breath hitches. "About 6 months..."

"God, Lucy—" Natsu stops mid sentence. Lucy feels guilty, but what could she do? She had nothing to keep her clean, nothing to recover for. Every time she wanted to stop, she couldn't. Because there was always that next failure and mistake that no one could argue that she made. And yet Natsu wants to hear the complete story. "I don't understand."

Lucy scoffs. "Of course you don't Natsu... You never feel worthless or not good enough. You never make mistakes. You're perfect and everyone loves you. You're dependable and fun, funny. You can make the best of any situation. You're everyone's best friend. You've even got girls lining up that you don't even notice."

Natsu's jaw drops. Lucy is surprised by how much she says but she doesn't take any of it back. It's the truth.

"Lucy you're the funniest person I know. I can always depend on you! You have plenty of friends! You have the guild! You have_ me_!" Natsu bursts. Sadness fills his eyes again. "Or am I not good enough?"

"No, Natsu! You don't understand. You're—You're—ugh!" Lucy grumbles in frustration. How can she say that he's too good for her without admitting her feelings? In a small voice Lucy almost whispers, "Natsu I really didn't mean to disappoint you... I never wanted this to happen, it was never something I wanted to turn to..."

"So _why_?" Natsu asks again. "Why did you start? You weren't always this way. When did you decide to turn to this?"

When Lisanna came back. Lucy wants to say. Not that she took Natsu's attention away, but by being ignored. It felt as if Lucy didn't matter anymore. She was just a liability, that there was no point in joining the guild. She even regretted it at one point. Instead she opts for another answer.

"I felt worthless, alright? I can't help you on any missions. Even when I come of use, it's my Celestial Spirits you need, not me. I'm dead weight. Plus I'm too heavy to carry and I must bother all of you. You all just feel sorry for me and I don't blame you because I feel sorry for me too. But I hate that you guys feel the need to lie and say I mean something to the team or I have a lot of potential when it's not true!" Lucy stops to breathe.

After a second she continues. "Everything has built me up to this point. It was one failure after another. Everyone put on a mask in front of me and said nice things but I knew it was a lie. Since the very beginning I've been weak. Natsu I couldnt handle anything, not even a little cold! My whole entire life has been miserable. Starting from—"

Lucy stops to shudder. She stopd talking and thinking. Her brain completely shuts down for a minute. There are just some memories that should be locked away forever. That should never be memories at all. Things that should never be thought of or said ever. **EVER.**

"Get up." Natsu orders. Lucy looks confused. When Natsu raises his eyesbrows to indicate her to move, Lucy stands and so does Natsu. Without an ounce of effort he lift her into his arms. Lucy yelps in surprise. "See? You're not heavy at all. I could carry you forever and not feel tired."

Lucy blushes but can't help but feel as if it's a lie. He's only saying that to make her feel better. "It's a burden though..."

"I don't give a single fuck." Natsu responds. He begins to move. As he walks he says, "Lucy you could have always came to me. I'm your best friend. I'm your team mate! I'm the person who brought you to the guild! You could trust me with your life! How come you didn't come to me?"

Lucy still held in Natsu's arms replied, "How was I supposed to do that? You've always been so happy and optimistic. How was I supposed to come up to you and tell you that your best friend was suffering from depression and self-harm? How was I supposed to stop your world like that? I'm not selfish Natsu."

"But I wish you were selfish!" Natsu argues. He grunts to indicate the conversation is over. They walk in silence. Well, Lucy in Natsu's arms.

Lucy blushes at that statement. But honestly, who was she to be so cruel? Never in a million years would she have spilled her secret. She had planned to keep it quiet but maybe luck or God just wasn't on her side anymore.

"Natsu—Natsu where are we going?" Lucy asks nervously although she can take a good guess.

"The guild. You need help Lucy." Natsu says determinedly. He tightens his grip around her in case she tries to push him away.

Lucy eyes brim with tears. Her heart is pounding harder in her chest. She buries her face in Natsu's shoulder. "No Natsu! Please, I'm not ready! I can't! I can't!"

"Lucy it's okay..." Natsu says gently. "I'm gonna get you help."

Lucy shakes her head. She can't talk anymore, she's too scared and choked up. All she can hope for is for Natsu to go as slow as possible. But of course Natsu isn't going to wait. The sooner he can get their friends to help the better. She needed support and she wouldn't get enough from just him.

Natsu doesn't mind his shoulder being soaked in tears. He cradles Lucy closer and whispers, "I'm here for you... I always have been..."

_Not entirely always..._ Lucy thinks with a shudder.

* * *

**A/N:** _Wow you guys are awesome! I just had to write this chapter quickly for all of y'all! :)_

**Q:** Do you guys want a lemon in the future? Kekeke *pervert* ;)


	5. Confessionary

With a very loud kick to the guild door, Natsu bursts through with Lucy in his arms. Since such an action is expected of Natsu, no one's attention is really grabbed upon first sight. The only attention they received were from the people interested in the love-lives of others. (Mainly Mira, who gives a high pitched squeal at the sight.)

"Everyone, stop what you're doing." Natsu orders. He carries Lucy and places her in a chair at a table in the centre of the guild hall. As he slips away, Lucy can't help but reach out for his elbow. She gives him one last pleading glance, begging him to stop but he shakes his head and shrugs her hand off him. "There's something important we need to discuss?"

Lucy can feel something along the lines of a panic attack happening. She begins shaking. Her heart is racing and she wishes to disappear, to die, to be anywhere but here in this moment. She feels so completely alone, especially from the absence of Natsu's arms. Lucy pulls her feet up onto the chair so she can hide her face in her knees. She pulls her sleeves further on her arms, covering her scars as best as she can.

"Important? Natsu Dragneel doesn't talk about important thing!" Gajeel insults.

Natsu doesn't say a word, only sends Gajeel a death glare. Gajeel notices the seriousness in his gaze and feels confused. _Maybe what the little flame thrower has to say is actually important,_ Gajeel thinks, taking a seat closer to the boy to pay better attention.

The rest of the guild also joins in, straining to get a good view. The atmosphere is quite thick. Natsu's tone brings the mood down to an all time low. People whisper to one another about what this could be about. Some of them whisper Lucy's name, causing Lucy to dig her fingers into her palms.

_Shut up, shut up, shut up!_ Lucy screams in her head. All eyes are on her and Natsu. So many eyes, staring, observing, judging. Does Natsu not realize how hard this is for her? How horrible this makes her feel? How embarrassed she is? How can he do this to her?

"It would be better if Lucy could tell you, but I don't think she can. Or, more likely, _won't_." Natsu says. He walks back over to Lucy and places his hands on her shoulders. He slowly moves his hands down her arms, causing the shaking girl to flinch. He runs his hand over her wrists that remain covered by sleeves. Natsu slowly rolls her sleeves up to show the scars.

Gasps ring out throughout the guild. More whispers. People guessing what kind of mission the scars could have come from, Mira gushing about the cute scene, a few people sharing their condolences and their own stories of battle wounds, and a few grossed out looks. Nobody guesses self-harm.

Lucy looks up at Natsu with tears filling up her eyes. She can't talk or move, it's a miracle she can even breathe. If only this were just some sort of nightmare she would wake up from. She chants over and over in her head, _How can you do this Natsu? How? How? How? _

Natsu's jaw is clenched. He refuses to look down at Lucy. What's the point? He already knows she must hate him. But why can't she realize that he is doing this for her? He wants her to recover, he wants her to have the support of all her friends, and he wants her to stop being afraid of things she shouldn't be afraid of.

"These," Natsu raises Lucy's right wrist to show the guild. "Are not scars from any job. Lucy... Lucy got these cuts from... Herself..."

"Oh my god, Lucy!" Nearly everyone cries out in outrage. The guys are all furious and shouting out over one another. The girls just cover their mouths, shaking their head from shock. The girls' eyes brim with tears, although Levy's tears free fall as she is Lucy's best friend.

Lucy rips her arm out of Natsu's grasp. He finally looks down at her. He was correct. She sends him a glare filled with hatred. Her face is soaked with tears but she doesn't make a noise. Natsu reaches to wipe away her tears but she slaps his hand away with surprising force. Natsu pulls his hand away in surprise.

"Okay, wait, everyone! Hold up!" Erza yells out over the riot. Everyone quiets down, relieved someone is ready to give orders because frankly, no one knows what to do. "Obviously this is a lot to take in all at once. What we need to do is get Lucy to the infirmary section of the guild. I think we all need time to process this. Natsu, if you could take Lucy to the infirmary-"

"I can go by myself." Lucy finally says in a very hoarse voice. She stands and makes her way to the infirmary room. The people in her way move away and let her to pass through, all the while staring at her wrist. Lucy ignores them and only lets angry clog her head. Anger at herself, at Natsu, at the guild, at life, at everything, at everyone. If there was anytime to die, right now would be perfect.

Natsu watches her leave. He feels his heart ache that she could hate him so much right now. But he has to keep reminding himself that he was doing this for her. Even if she hates him, it's okay because in the lon run this will be better. She has more support, more people to lean on, more motivation to get better, etc. And Natsu is planning on sticking by her every step of the way.

Lucy enters the nursing room and shuts the door behind her. She climbs into the bed and buries her face in the pillow and screams. The pillow muffles the cry. Tears soak the white pillow. Lucy begins to kick the bed with her feet, feeling childish but not caring. She was in a state of hysteria and couldn't stop it.

"Lucy?" A soft voice calls in. Lucy freezes and identifies the voice as Mira's. She hears shuffling as Mira enters the room and locks the door behind her. Mira moves to grab a first aid kit. Lucy lifts her head and is greeted by Mira's friendly face. "How are you doing darling?"

Lucy groans. "Shitty."

"That's understandable." Mira replies. Lucy decides not to say anything else because she could go on and on about how shitty this whole thing was. But she can't because it's too hard. But in a way, Mira understands and won't push Lucy too far. Although she will still do some pushing. "You wanna tell me what's troubling you? You must be dying to let it out."

Mira puts a hand out. Lucy sits up and places her right arm in Mira's hand. Mira rolls up her sleeve and applies disinfect ointments over her whole arm. Lucy speaks as Mira works on bandaging.

"I was just so sick of the same things over and over again. I wasn't feeling good enough. I was and still am so completely over everything. I'm ready for death. I'm not saying I want to pull suicide, but I want to die. You have no idea how bad I want to die." Lucy says as her tears return. "I hate everything. Myself the most. I can go on and on about this but there are some things that I just can't put into words."

"It's shitty, hey? Lonely, depressing, pitiful, and scary." Mira says. She finishes with Lucy's right arm and begins on Lucy's left.

Lucy lets out a sob. "And no one understands! No one! _I can't even understand! _I can't tell you why I'm so sad, and I can't tell you when I became sad. It just happened and I may have just always been that way. All I know is that I tried too hard to live up to everyone's expectation and only expected the same in return. I was wrong to do that."

Mira nods sympathetically. She finishes with the right hand and stares at Lucy. Lucy gives Mira a confused look. "Lift your shirt up and lower your jeans Lucy, you're not fooling me."

Lucy blushes and raises her shirt up just under her bra. She pulls her pants down a bit lower to show the cuts on her hips and thighs. Mira gets to work immediately. Lucy feels her cheeks get hotter and hotter. It's awkward for her, not to mention embarrassing.

Mira finishes up and cleans the supplies in a matter of minutes. Lucy pulls her shirt down and her pants up. Mira puts the first aid kit away and comes back to Lucy. She hands Lucy a pill and a cup of water. Lucy gives her a questioning look. "They're anti-depressants and sleeping pills. And one of them is to calm you down from your panic."

Lucy raises her eyebrows and takes the pills. She swallows them one by one.

Mira sighs and takes a seat next to Lucy. "So what's with you and Natsu?"

Lucy nearly chokes on her sleeping pill. She feels her anger coming back up as she reaches for the panic pill. "Nothing."

"That didn't seem like nothing. He brought you in here like some knight in shining armour." Mira nudges Lucy with her elbow. "He looked so serious. I've never seen him like that."

Lucy scoffs. "I really don't care. He had no right bringing me here and announcing to the world my inner most darkest secrets like that! He didn't even stop to consider how afraid I was. You'd think that if I was actually ready to tell everyone, I would have done it by now!"

"But Lucy, be honest with yourself. You would have never been ready." Mira says. Lucy's jaw drops. It's true. if Lucy were to really think about it. She was planning on taking that secret to her grave. "You wouldn't have ever told anyone. You would have suffered on you own and carried that burden."

"Yeah, but-"

"But nothing." Mira interrupts. She places a hand on Lucy's shoulder. "Natsu was doing this for you, because he cares about you and wants to help. Don't be too hard on him. All he wants is for you to be healthy and happy again."

Mira stands and begins to head out of the room. As Mira reaches the door, Lucy calls out, "And how do you know all of this? How are you giving all of this good advice? How do you understand so much?"

For a second Lucy thinks Mira will be angry. Instead, the take-over witch smiles sweetly and raises her shirt and lowers her pants to show old and fading scars of her own. Lucy is completely shocked. Mira laughs. "It's possible to recover you know, when you have someone who loves you standing by your side."

"Who was that person for you?" Lucy asks.

Mira shrugs. "A certain dragon slayer of my own."

With a wink, Mira exits before Lucy can ask anymore questions. Mira's story can be saved until later. Lucy feels a painful ache in her head. The sleeping pills were really working. Lucy lays down on the bed and pulls a blanket over her. Sleep takes over in seconds.

* * *

**A/N:** _Shocking, ain't it? ;)_  
_I can't promise the next chapter will be as long as this one, but because of all the fans who read this fic I thought I should treat you with a longer chapter. This length is actually the usual amount I make my other fic of. _  
_I'll add more NaLu in the next chapter, don't worry. But be happy with the part where Natsu's hands move down her arms cuz I thought that was pretty cute._  
_Leave a review! :*_


	6. Blame

Lucy's eyes flutter open. She squints, realizing Mira had left the light on when she left Lucy takes a look around and nearly jumps out of her skin when her eyes land on Natsu's, which stare back at her from her bedside. He's standing and has a very unreadable expression on his face.

Lucy looks away quickly, still feeling a flicker of anger. "What are you doing here? Trying to give me a heart attack?"

Nastu moves to sit on the edge of her bed. He reaches for Lucy's hand. "I came to watch over you. Just making sure you're doing okay."

Lucy pulls her hand out of reach and turns to her side. Her back faces Natsu. "You can just go back. I don't need a babysitter."

"Lucy..." Natsu says softly. He moves closer. Slowly he takes Lucy's left hand into his. Lucy doesn't pull away this time. "You know I wasn't trying to do anything to hurt you... I'm trying to help you, Lucy."

"Maybe I don't need your help, okay?" Lucy retorts.

"Bullshit." Natsu spits out. "Tell me truthfully, if I weren't to have found out, would you have stopped? Better yet, would you have wanted to? You can't tell me you would have had enough strength to stop on your own, because if you did I know you would've stopped a long time ago. Hell, you wouldn't have ever started in the first place."

Lucy's eyes sting as she pulls herself into a sitting position. She stares down at her left hand, sandwiched in between Natsu's hands. It's so weird for him to be acting this way, and it hurts Lucy knowing she's causing him to act differently and out of character. Well, maybe he isn't out of character. After all he is looking out for the well being of one of his friends. Natsu would do that for anyone in a matter of seconds.

Slowly, Lucy takes the courage to look up at Natsu. She refuses to let her tears slip for the billionth time. She just give Natsu a small, sad smile. "I know... It's just easier to be angry at you than to worry about anything else."

"What do you mean? What is there to worry about?" Natsu asks, slowly rubbing the top of Lucy's hand in a light massage.

Lucy sighs. "This is embarrassing to admit. But I needed to divert my feeling to anything but guilt and embarrassment. After seeing the look on everyone's faces... I can't bare to think about it. So I chose to think of something else. It was so much easier to blame you for telling everyone than to blame myself for even starting this bad habit."

Natsu smiles. He reaches out and smooths Lucy's hair. "You could hate me all you want Lucy. You can blame me for everything. I don't care. As long as you're getting better. As long as you have the guild behind you. And me. Even if you hate me, I'll always be here for you."

This time Lucy doesn't hold back the tears that fall. "God, I'm so sick of all this crying! But I can't stop with the self-pity!"

Natsu moves his hand to Lucy's face, ready to wipe her tears away when she pushes his hand away. Natsu realizes she just needs to let out her emotions and it's better her cry than cut, so he sits back and watches her cry for a while. After a minute or so, Lucy stops crying and just sniffles.

"You said it's okay for me to blame you," Lucy says. Natsu crosses his arms and stares at her. Lucy laughs a little. "But isn't the first step to recovery admittance?"

Natsu thinks about it for a minute. "And how do you think you're doing on that first step?"

Lucy rolls her eyes. "Well obviously I failed. But... I think slowly, little by little... I can accept it. If-"

Lucy stops abruptly and blushes. Natsu nudges her leg, implying to keep going. Lucy shuts her eyes as she says, "If you're with me."

Natsu smiles wide. "Of course, Lucy! I'll always be with you! I'll support you to the end and help you with everything you need. Whatever you want, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. If you need someone standing next to you, I'm here."

_I think I got the point._ Lucy thinks. Lucy thinks of Mira. She remembers the old scars on Mira's hips. She remember's Mira's words clearly. _It's possible to recover you know, when you have someone who loves you standing by your side. _Lucy silently whispers, "But that's not what I mean't."

"Hmm? What did you mean then?" Natsu asks, leaning closer to hear better.

Lucy blushes a deep deep red. She didn't think she said that aloud. Now that she did she wishes she didn't. Mentally slapping herself, Lucy says lamely, "I mean't... Uh-I just thought that maybe, that if-uh, you know if-"

"Natsu?" Gray peeks his head into the room. He sees the situation at foot, the proximity of the two and Lucy's blushing face. He whistles teasingly and points behind him with his thumb. "Maybe I should just head back, if you two are too busy."

"No!" Lucy says immediately, feeling even more embarrassed but still feeling a bit relieved. She avoids Natsu's expectant gaze and keeps her eyes locked with Gray's. "What did you need to talk to Natsu about?"

"I just wanted to take a walk with him." Gray says. "I feel like we need to talk about a couple of things."

Natsu shrugs off the offer almost immediately. "No thanks Frostbite, I've got better things to do."

Gray squints his eyes at Natsu. "You've got no choice, Sunburn."

"Who's gonna be with Lucy if I'm gone?" Natsu says angrily. "There's no way I'm leaving her alone."

Gray moves out of the doorway, allowing Juvia to walk in. "That's why I asked Juvia to watch over her while we're out. Juvia is a member of this guild, she'll take good care of Lucy while we're gone. Now you've got no excuses so come out right now."

"What if my excuse is that I don't like you?" Natsu says annoyingly, obviously poking at Gray's cool. Gray's eyebrow twitches but he doesn't say anything back because Natsu is getting up and heading out the door. Natsu flings his head back to glance back at Lucy. "I'll be back as fast as possible, alright?"

Lucy nods but can't help feeling like a clingy child. _Natsu, come back soon..._ Lucy thinks. Natsu heads out of the room. Lucy looks up at Gray and waves. "See you later Gray."

Gray smiles back and waves at the two females before leaving them. He rushes to catch up to Natsu, who's nearing the guild doors. "Hey, knuckle head! Wait up!"

Natsu stops at the door to wait. Gray catches up almost immediately and the two walk out. Natsu sighs impatiently. "Where are we walking to?"

Gray shrugs. "No where. I just need to talk to you about Lucy and everything. Mira says that she's talked to Lucy already and let Lucy let out her emotions. She said someone needs to do that to you so I decided to."

"Why would you do that?" Natsu asked, still a little annoyed.

"Because who else would actually listen? Gajeel would tell you to suck it up and Erza is hard to explain to." Gray says with a shrug. "Plus I've known you for years, and probably better than most people in the guild, so I'm the perfect candidate."

Natsu sighs. "So what do you want me to say? My best friend cuts herself because she's depressed? Because I couldn't be there for her?"

"Natsu every single on of us blames ourselves for what she's doing. Why couldn't any of us been enough for her to stop? Why couldn't we be there for her? Why couldn't we see through the fake smiles and happiness? If we'd just looked a little harder, tried a little bit more, Lucy wouldn't have done any of it."

Natsu groans. "It's not the same! Are you her best friend? Were you the one to bring her into the guild? She's my team mate! I've had so much time to be able to figure it out and I couldn't! I had to _find_ her doing it."

"Hey, I'm her team mate too. I've had a lot of time with her too. Even just yesterday when she came running into the guild before you carried her in I should have known. The look on her face screamed panic. Why couldn't I figure it out any time Happy insulted her and she would flinch and grab her wrists? She always pulled her sleeves down even in hot weather." Gray rants. "You're not the only one to blame or feel guilty."

"Do you feel the same way about her as I do?" Natsu asks. Gray shuts up and the two walk in silence. "The answer is no. Even though you all love Lucy and she's a part of our family, none of you could ever feel the same way as I do."

"Even though I don't feel anything towards her more than a nakama, that doesn't mean that I pay any less attention to her-"

"No but you also have Juvia to look out for." Natsu cuts in. Gray blushes at this statement. "And all the rest of the guild members. I look out for everyone too, but in a way... Lucy's all I have."

The two walk in silence. Gray sends Natsu a few glances, wondering if their conversation is over. Natsu just stare at the ground as they walk. He feels a sudden urge to let something out but fights it. After a minute or so, Natsu decides to give in because he can't handle holding it in.

"I can't even imagine if she'd have gone too far." Natsu's voice is strange to hear from Gray. It sounds so different, so serious and so... Scared. "What if she were to hurt herself permanently? What if she were to die? I could never live with myself if she died. But that's what would have happened! She would've died, Gray! And I wouldn't have been able to stop it!"

"Yes Natsu, she _would've_ died." Gray feels sick saying those words. "But she didn't! She didn't because you found her! You told everyone! Now she can recover because we're all with her. We're all standing right next to her. It's because of you that she'll stop her bad habit. You saved her Natsu."

"I didn't. I shouldn't have had to."

Gray sighs and doesn't feel like repeating himself. The two walk back to the guild in silence. It comforts Natsu, allows him to think. He'd never admit it but he's grateful for Gray lending an ear. And Gray will never admit it but he'd always lend an ear to Natsu.

As the two walk into the guild and head to the nursing room Lucy's in, Natsu notices the worried looks on everyone's faces. Faces swelled from crying, shame in their eyes as they blame themselves. Natsu has to look at the ground. Everything makes him feel that much worse.

"Hey, where's Juvia and Lucy?" Gray asks. Natsu rushes into the room to find only Mira, tidying up the room.

Natsu searches the room frantically for Lucy. "Where the hell did Lucy go! I left her to be watched by Juvia and now they're both gone?"

Mira places a hand on Natsu's shoulder to calm him down. "Erza came in and took them to Fairy Hills. All the girls are heading over there for a slumber party. Erza says we could all use the night to have a good heart-to-heart which is exactly what Lucy needs. I suggest you take the night to relax."

"Relax? How am I supposed to relax when I don't know if Lucy's okay or not?!" Natsu yells. He doesn't direct the anger towards Mira.

"I promise I'll keep an eye out on her at all times. I won't even let her go to the washroom without me. Alright?" Mira asks.

Natsu looks down at the beautiful and kind demon mage. He knows he can trust her, but he would prefer to be with Lucy himself. But maybe she's right, Lucy could use a break from him and needs to be with her friends right now.

Slowly Natsu nods. "Thanks, Mira."

* * *

**A/N:** _Awe, Natsu. :3_  
**Q:** _Do you guys want a special chapter with Mira's story? It won't be right away, just a future reference. (I will end up mentioning it but I don't know whether or not to make it into a chapter on its own.)_


	7. Acceptance

"I brought anything we could ever want." Erza announces. "I brought pizza, chips, ice cream and of course the cake is in the fridge. I brought juice and pop and if anyone wants coffee it's there somewhere. Popcorn is ready to be popping and new pyjamas are laid out."

"Wow, you really took care of everything." Cana says. "Except my beer. Oh well, I thought this might happen."

"We need you sober for this night to actually work out the way I want." Erza says with a glare. "No one drinks an ounce of alcohol tonight. It's a serious night."

The girls look at one another one by one. They all just stand there not knowing what to do. Juvia clears her throat. "Uhm, shall we get started then? We can choose whatever pair of pyjamas we want right? And get the food going?"

Erza nods. "I already have the pizza heating up and the ice cream in the freezer."

"Okay well what are we waiting for?" Levy asks. She steps up and picks an orange coloured pyjama off the ground. Juvia picks up a blue one. One by one the girls pick out a pyjama to change into. Lucy chooses a pink colour.

"What room are we even going to be in?" Lisanna asks. Most of the girls begin to change already into their pyjamas, Lucy included. Girls like Wendy, however, goes to the wash room for privacy.

Erza looks around the lobby. "How about here in the lobby? It's big enough. Not to mention the kitchen is right next door."

"Mm, good point." Bisca says, plopping on one of the couches. "It's getting dark out, we should probably start before we get tired."

"So did you leave Asuka in Alzack's hands?" Evergreen questions, taking a seat next to the green haired mother. Bisca nods. "Good, cuz I'm not very fond of kids."

Lucy moves to sit in the couch across from them. Mira takes a seat on her right and Cana takes a seat to her left. Erza grabs the chips and throws a bag on each couch. She takes a seat with Lisanna. Across from those two sit Wendy, Juvia and Levy.

"I seriously hate salt and vinegar." Evergreen complains.

"We're going to rotate so we can all have some chips from each bag." Erza explain. "Anyway, let's begin! Obviously I called for this 'slumber party' because of the lack of communication we have with one another. Now before we get into anything, I want all of us girls to feel safe here. Whatever we talk about remains between us. We're here to help one another, okay?"

The girls nod one by one. Erza smiles pleasantly. "We're gonna start with a topic we've probably all had trouble with at some point. Weight. Alright, so let's start with Lucy."

Lucy, not knowing what to say, stares at Mira. Mira nudges her with her elbow and mouths _beginning_. Lucy nods and takes a deep breath. "Uhm, okay, well... I guess it kind of began when I really started to take in what Happy always said about me being so heavy. He just kept saying it all the time so I kind of took it to heart."

"He's a cat." Bisca says while chewing on sour cream and onion chips. "He's weak, of course he's going to think you're heavy. He's just not strong enough to hold you up."

"Then how does he hold up Natsu? Or Gray?" Lucy questions.

"I can tell you right now you weigh less than both of them, Lucy. I know because I've picked their asses up one too many times." Erza says. Even at just the thought she has to shut her eyes with annoyance. "You can tell the difference between the weights."

Lucy rolls her eyes. "They weigh more because they have muscle."

"That could also be true. But even still, Happy would have been able to tell the difference in weights." Cana says, patting Lucy's shoulder. "Not to mention Happy's just like that. He probably only does it to get under your skin."

"Natsu picks you up as if you weigh nothing at all." Juvia comments. "So does Gray, and Erza! You have nothing to worry about."

Lucy nods but can't quite believe in the words. She motions to Mira to go next. Mira taps her chin as the girls stare at her expectantly. "Well... It was always so pressuring to be skinny and beautiful for Sorcerer's Weekly. I was the pin-up model and the trophy of Fairy Tail, but that's such a burdensome title. There were days I would only run on water to maintain my image. But after the seven year gap I stopped doing that and realized it wasn't right."

"That's understandable." The girls all agree to Lisanna's statement. "To be honest Mira-nee, I was always jealous that the good looks went to you. But now I realize it wasn't all it was cut out to be. I'm actually glad, but still sad for you."

Mira laughs. "Oh, it's alright Lisanna. I'm glad you're happy."

"Well I am and always have been on a strict diet to maintain my image." Evergreen says. "Mainly plants. Fruits and Veges were my go-to. 8 glasses of water a day _at least_. I'm pretty dedicated to it, but for today I think I'll make an exception."

"I never really thought of weight as something too important. Of course I was on a diet too and tried to maintain an image as well, I always thought other things were more important." Bisca says warmly. "After getting pregnant I just stopped caring about my body because it doesn't matter what I look like, I know Alzack will always love me."

"He definitely loves it in the sheets." Cana says with a wink, causing all the girls to squeal and laugh as Bisca throws a couch cushion at Cana. "Oh, sorry, I had to. But I'll try to refrain for Wendy's sake."

Wendy looks down. "I've always been so flat-chested. I don't have to pay attention to what I eat, no matter what I remain flat-chested and twig-like. I know a lot of you want this kind of body and would say I'm gonna regret not liking my body now, but I would prefer a body like any of yours."

"I have the same problem." Levy says understandingly. "I really hope you don't end up like me Wendy."

"My situation is kind of the same." Lisanna says. "I just feel so disproportioned."

"Because Juvia's body is made of water, Juvia can mold it the way she wants to." Juvia says with a modest smile. "Juvia wishes you guys had the same ability so you wouldn't feel the way you do about your bodies..."

Lucy smiles. "That's sweet Juvia."

"What about you Erza?" Wendy questions.

Erza smiles. "I don't pay attention to that stuff. I try to get as much muscle as possible without looking masculine. In the end it does add a few excess pounds. But that might also be from my cakes, but I'm not gonna stop having those. Oh! That reminds me of the red velvet cake in the fridge!"

Erza's mouth begins to water. The girls laugh and turn their attention to Cana. Cana sighs. "Okay, I'll admit it. I have a problem. Alcohol makes me bloated and gross, so most of the time I just drink instead of eat, that way I won't have a food baby. But I should probably stop that..."

"Yeah, no kidding." Levy comments. "Have you ever tried water?"

"Hey," Cana says a bit hurtfully and angrily. A few of the girls cover their mouths and try to hold back laughter.

"I have to go to the washroom." Lucy announces, standing from her seat. Mira follows immediately. Lucy gives her a confused look but Mira smiles back nonchalantly. Lucy heads for the washroom with Mira trailing her. Lucy enters the washroom and is surprised when Mira enters with her. "What are you doing?"

Mira smiles apologetically. "Sorry, I promised Natsu to keep an eye on you."

Lucy sigh. I knew it. She thinks to herself before standing in front of the toilet. She's about to take off her pants when she realizes Mira's still watching. Lucy blushes and motions for Mira to turn. Mira turns quickly. "Oh! Sorry."

Lucy tries to be quick but can't help being embarrassed by the noise. Mira doesn't attention to anything though, to which Lucy is grateful for. Lucy finishes quickly and flushes the toilet before washing her hands thoroughly. The two head back to the lobby and sit back in their own seats.

"Next subject!" Erza says quickly. She passes her and Lisanna's bag of chips over and they rotate their chip bags. After a small pause she smirks. "Boys. And this time we'll start with Cana."

Cana sighs. She jokingly says, "I hate all of you, you know that? I'm still looking for a good guy but since all the young ones are taken, I've been searching in other places. Like... A certain mage from Quatro Puppy."

"I knew it!" Lisanna says with a clap of her hands. She has a proud smile as she and Cana share a knowing smirk.

"Juvia only loves Gray and Gray only." Juvia says quickly, eyeing every single girl slowly, making sure they clearly get the message that Gray is hers.

Erza sighs. "Because I'm the one who wants everyone to be 100% honest, I'll just go ahead and say I'm waiting for Jellal. After he's cleared his name, there may finally be a chance of the two of us getting together..."

Mira squirms happily in her seat at the news. She's all smiles and thumbs ups to Erza, who blushes the colour of her hair. "I'm so happy to hear that! Jellal is a really good guy and he's working hard to clear his name. I bet you two will be together in no time."

"Thank you, Mira." Erza smiles back. "Maybe we can go on double dates."

"Uhm, what? Double dates?" Lisanna asks.

Mira blushes. "Well, you see, I'm kind of in a relationship with Laxus. And since Laxus is 'bros' with Jellal, and Erza and I are best friends, then it kind of makes sense for us to go on double dates when the time is right."

"Wait... You're with Laxus?!" Lisanna stands up from her seat. Lucy's eyebrows raise up and a few of the girls mouths hang open. Mira nods her head. "Well then we can double date too because I'm with Freed!"

"What?! You're in a relationship with Freed?!" Cana exclaims. The rest of the girls grow even more shocked. Cana shakes her head. "I thought that guy was gay..."

"He is not gay!" Lisanna says with a pout. "He just has a weird way of expressing himself, alright? He's actually the sweetest and most considerate boyfriend. So don't say stuff like that, it hurts him a lot to hear nonsense like that."

Cana raises her hands up in defence. Bisca speaks up to change the subject. "Well I'm obviously happy with Alzack so..."

"Wendy?" Erza says. All eyes turn to the little blue haired girl.

Wendy blushes. "Well after the time-gap, Romeo got really handsome and grew very well, so I kind of... Have a little crush on him..."

"Awe! That's the cutest thing!" Lisanna comments, causing the girl to blush more.

Levy shifts in her seat, feeling a little uncomfortable. When everyone turns to stare at her she squirms and looks up at Lucy. "I'm going to be honest, only because we're supposed to be and that's what this night is all for. I like Gajeel. Okay Lucy's turn."

"Was that really that hard to say? Okay well everyone knew that anyway." Cana says with a roll of her eyes. "Lucy, your turn. How's Natsu these days?"

Lucy blushes. "Oh my god! Who said I liked Natsu?"

Every single one of them roll their eyes. "Oh come on, we all know it anyway."

Lucy sighs. "Okay fine, I like Natsu. But he doesn't like me back so I mean-"

"Oh shut the hell up." Cana says with annoyance. "Don't even start with that crap. He's in love with you and we can all vouch for that."

"What she said." The rest of the girls agree.

Lucy scoffs. "Okay, no. He really doesn't guys-"

Lisanna giggles. "Oh Lucy. I've known Natsu for a very long time, so have most of us. We know him like the back of our hands. I remember I had the same problem with him when I was younger. But trust me, he likes you."

"How do you know...?"

"Because even though he liked me back in the day, he never looked at me like that."

"Like what? There's a certain way he looks?" Lucy asks, confused. But she can't help but feel happy, and even a flicker of hope. Maybe he does like her... Only time will be able to tell. "It;s just hard to accept."

"Love is love, you'll find out eventually." Mira says with a wink.

* * *

**A/N:** _Was this boring? Sorry if it was, because there's going to be another part to it. Trust me, the next chapter will contain more NaLu. :)_


	8. Next To You

"I'm gonna go get the ice cream. Lucy, come with me." Erza says. Lucy nods and follows Erza to the kitchen. Erza reaches for the bowls and spoons. "Can you get the ice cream from the freezer Lucy? I'm kind of tied over here."

Lucy nods. As she takes the ice cream out of the freezer she remembers the ice cream she'd set out for Natsu, still on her bedside table, untouched these past two days. She groans inwardly and shakes her head. She shuts the freezer door and places the ice cream on the counter where Erza distributes it equally.

"Hey, Erza?" Lucy asks. Erza answers back with a hmm. Lucy thinks back to Mira and everything Mira's said to her. "Do you know about Mira? Her scars?"

Erza freezes for a second before going back to scooping ice cream into ten different bowls. "Yes, I do. It's not something we like to discuss in public. Not a lot of people know, not even her siblings. Just me and Laxus. And now you."

Lucy thinks back to when Mira said she had a dragon slayer of her own. "So Laxus helped Mira through it? It's hard to picture that, but I can see it. How did he know what to do? And everything? Was he always there? When did he find out?"

Erza stops and smiles at Lucy. "Laxus would have done anything for her. It remind me of Natsu. Only, Laxus is older and more mature, but they still love the same way. I can't tell you the whole story as that would be an intrusion of privacy. If you want to know about it, I'm sure Mira would be okay with tell you everything."

Lucy coughs and takes a few bowls in her hands. "I'll take half and you take half, alright?"

Erza nods and the two head back to the girls to continue their talk.

* * *

Erza wiggles the empty chip bag in her hands and stares down at her empty bowl of ice cream, her plate stained with cheese and icing from the pizza and cake. She frowns deeply. "It seems we've run out of food. So should we call this a night?"

The girls begin to agree when Levy shoots off the couch. "Wait! How about we do something fun? I bet we could all use something to lift our spirits up after this depressing session. Plus I want to get my metabolism going after eating all of that junk. I suggest we go swimming!"

"Swimming? With what bikini's?" Evergreen questions. "And at this hour?! It's probably midnight!"

Cana shrugs. "We can go skinny dipping, guys! It'll be so much fun!"

"Haha. You do realize the boys could be watching us, right? I mean the have that peep hole at bottom of the pool anyway." Lisanna says. "Hell, I'll bet you ten bucks they're all just waiting there for us to go skinny dipping."

"Well, how about going in our pj's and sleeping naked instead?" Mira suggests.

Lucy blushes, not liking the ides of sleeping naked. Erza hops off the couch. "Yes! Mira you are correct! This way, ladies!"

A couple of minutes later all the girls have entered the pool in their pyjamas. Lucy slowly dips herself in, saying goodbye to feeling dry. Her newly soaked pyjamas feel heavy and weigh her down. "I have a feeling we've gonna regret this."

Cana on the other hand has decided to actually swim naked. Erza joins her. In a way Lucy regrets not doing the same. As the girls swim around and play, Levy approaches Lucy. "Can I talk to you privately?"

"Yeah, of course, Levy." Lucy replies. The two head for the corner of the pool for privacy. Lucy's heart hammers in her chest. She realizes what she's about to be in for. Levy's probably furious and ready to drown Lucy, that's why she suggested swimming. Lucy gives a little prayer before she says, "What's up?"

"How could you not come to me?" Levy says immediately. Her voice is filled with pain. "Do you know how hard it was to find out you're sad? You're so sad and angry at this world that you would cut yourself? How bad it feels knowing I did nothing to stop you, and couldn't figure it out? How could you do that?"

Lucy feels her eyes sting but fights the tears back hard. "I know. I'm sorry. I didn't want to trouble you but I guess I did the wrong thing by not coming to you. After all, I trust you more than anything or anyone else out there."

"Do you know how hard it was to watch as Mira, Natsu, Gray, Juvia, Erza, and everyone else comforted you and I couldn't? I didn't know how to and anything I were to say would have made the situation worse and made you feel worse than you already do which is the exact opposite of what I want."

"I know, I know, I'm so sorry." Lucy repeats. Levy sighs and pulls Lucy into a hug. "I'm gonna try my hardest to get better, I promise!"

"I know you are. Because I'm gonna be with you and I won't let you slip up. Not again. Not ever." Levy says seriously. The two break from the hug and join the rest of the girls who are playing in a splashing war. Moonlight lit the pool.

In a mess of giggles and water, the girl nearly jump out of their skin when they hear male voices behind them. "Well that looks like fun."

The girl look up to find the boys surrounding the pool. Gray's already stripped and ready. The other boys are in the midst of taking off their shirts. Lucy's eye twitches with anger. She expect Erza to go off on them, but instead the scarlet haired mage smiles warmly. "Of course! Come on in."

"Erza?!" The girls scream. Lucy feels her head begin to go light. "I thought this was an all girls party?"

"Oh come on, this will be so much more fun!" Cana says. The boys are already jumping in.

Lucy shakes her head and backs up. "I'm gonna go to bed, I'm too tired for a fight in the pool today. See you guys tomorrow, alright?"

The girls nod and wave at the retreating giggle. Lucy back's up until her back touches the side of the pool. She goes to hoist herself up when a pair of strong arms already grabs her by the shoulders and hoists her to her feet. Lucy squeals but feels her stomach flutter when she turns to see a shirtless and scarfless Natsu smiling at her.

"Natsu, you came too?!" Lucy exclaims, her soaked pyjamas dripping like a waterfall.

Natsu nods. "Yeah, I wanted to make sure you were okay."

Lucy rolls her eyes. She heads towards the doors. "I'm fine Natsu, you can go. I'm heading to bed anyway."

"I'm not gonna leave you alone." Natsu says, trailing behind her. Lucy ignores him and heads up to a guest room set for her. When she's standing in front of her door ready to open it, she feels Natsu's hot breath down her back. Lucy shivers and turns to the innocent boy.

"What makes you think you can stay in my room?!" Lucy asks. She blocks Natsu's way into her room.

Natsu scratches the back of his neck and grins. "It's not like we haven't shared a bed before."

Lucy blushes and shakes her head. "But-but still! You can't come in my room like this. We only shared my bed those days because you were already asleep and I was too tired to wake you up. You can easily go find another room to stay at."

"Oh, come on Lucy! Who's room am I supposed to go to? It's weird to go into their rooms." Natsu complains with a pout.

"But it's not weird to be in mine?" Lucy questions with a raised brow.

"Exactly!"

Lucy takes a deep breath and gives in. She opens the door and enters, but leaves it open for Natsu. When she enters the room and sees the tiny bed Lucy groans with another realization. "I change my mind Natsu, you need to find another room. Go sleep with Erza or Cana."

"What? Why?" Natsu asks, already hopping into the bed.

"Because, Natsu. I don't have anything to change to and I'm not sleeping in these soaked pyjamas." Lucy says, motioning for Natsu to leave.

"I can dry them for you, if you want." Natsu suggests.

"More like fry them. No thanks." Natsu hops off the bed and approaches Lucy. Lucy backs up against the wall and watches as Natsu closes the distance between them. Lucy's heart hammers in her chest. "N-Natsu! I-I said leave!"

Natsu places his hands on Lucy's shoulders and lights his arms on fire. He quickly moves his hands around her. Lucy can feel herself drying. When suddenly she feels Natsu's hands on her butt, she pushes him away. "Don't touch my ass perv!"

"Hey, do you want to sleep with being wet there?" Natsu says.

Lucy sees he makes a good point and allows him to dry her ass. His hands move to her breasts, causing Lucy to blush madly. He's touched her in these places before but never in a room with a bed in it. When his hands trail down to exactly where you think the destination will be Lucy pushes him forcefully. "Absolutely not. Now let's go to bed."

Natsu grins and jumps back into the bed. He moves over to the right side, giving Lucy the wall side. Lucy turns the lights off and crawls in between Natsu and the wall. She faces her back to Natsu and shuts her eyes. Her eyes quickly widen when she feels Natsu's arms wrap around her and his head bury in her hair.

"N-Natsu..." Lucy says silently. She can feel his warm hands against her stomach and his hot breath tickles her neck.

"You smell good, Lucy." Natsu says in a sleepy voice before he drifts off.

Lucy slowly reaches down to pull his arms off her, but they wouldn't budge. Giving up, Lucy turns onto her other side, facing Natsu. The light from the window illuminates his face and Lucy can't help but touch his face. He looks so peaceful when he's asleep. Lucy smiles and touches her forehead to Natsu's before giving into the sleep.

* * *

**A/N: **_The next chapter is Mira's story! And let me tell you already that I cried while writing. Sorry if you're not really a fan of Miraxus but I am so yeah, haha, you're gonna have to deal with it for the next chapter. :P_

_Review please and thanks! :)_


	9. Mira's Story

Lucy wakes up first. She takes a moment to stare at Natsu's peaceful face. Slowly she strokes his cheek, causing him to grunt and move his head closer. Lucy pulls her hand away and slowly crawls down and out of his arms. She slips off the bed and walks into the hallways. It's quiet, a bit too quiet for Lucy's liking.

Lucy whistles nonchalantly as she peeks into each room. She's surprised to find that Natsu wasn't the only boy to sleepover. In their own respective rooms, Juvia is bear hugging Gray. Freed and Lisanna are cuddling cutely. Romeo is all gentleman like, sleeping on the ground and letting Wendy sleep in the bed. Probably because Carla would kill him if she found out the two shared a bed. Lucy almost rushes over to hug the cutie but restrains herself.

There's an empty room, which makes Lucy guess that Bisca went home. Evergreen and Elfman are sleeping with their backs turned to one another, as expected. Erza is sprawled across her bed comfortably alone. Cana is actually sleeping on the floor in a sitting position with her back against her bed, a barrel of beer against the wall. Levy is using Gajeel as a pillow which makes Lucy's heart warm at the sight.

In the final room, she only finds Laxus. Wondering where Mira could be, Lucy shuts the door and turns and nearly has a heart attack when Mira's face pops up. "Strange, isn't it? I was looking through the rooms too and only found Natsu laying there."

"I didn't mean to intrude, I was just curious." Lucy says with a blush. "But hey, if you were doing it too then that means we're both caught red-handed."

Mira smiles and heads down the hall. She opens the door to the empty room that would have belonged to Bisca. She motions for Lucy to join her in there. "I wanted to talk to you so I'm glad we're both awake. I don't want to wake the others up though."

Lucy nods and enters the room. Mira enters after her and shuts the door. The two of them take a seat on the bed. Mira smiles warmly. "Last night Erza told me you were curious about what happened to me. I thought I might as well tell you the whole story."

"I'm sorry Mira, I wasn't trying to be rude! I just wanted to know more about how you recovered. I thought maybe your story could help me in my own recovery. I should have just come to you in the first place instead of asking others." Lucy says quickly. She face-palms herself. "I didn't even think about if Erza knew or not! I'm so sorry!"

"It's alright, I'm not angry." Mira says comfortingly.

_After Lisanna's death, I felt so wronged. I felt like the world was against me, that it was so unfair. I cried for weeks endlessly. It should have been me instead of her. I'm her older sister but I didn't take care of her and because of me she was dead. I felt like I'd lost my worth. I stopped fighting Erza, I stopped bullying people, I just stopped everything. And yet, I couldn't stop breathing._

_Even with my new kind attitude I felt like it could never be enough to fill the void in me. In everyone. Everyone wanted Lisanna back. She was the kindest girl in the world. No one could hate her. She would do anything for everyone. Even sacrifice her life..._ *Mira takes a second to wipe away her tears. Lucy's own eyes flood to the brim with tears.*

_I hated myself and everyone else. It only got worse when Sorcerer's Weekly wanted me to model for them weekly for their magazine. I had this sudden pressure on me to be perfect. Be skinny, beautiful, powerful, and kind. It sucked. Because they got me to model in swimsuits, I cut on my hips where it wouldn't be visible._

_Every single day it was a battle in my head. I couldn't say anything to anyone. The only thing keeping me alive was Elfman. He lost his younger sister, what would happen if he lost his older one? I'm supposed to look out for my siblings and I let one down. I couldn't do it again._

_Erza found out one day by chance. I was changing from my swimsuit into my clothes but I took that moment when I thought no one was watching to make a quick cut. To my surprise Erza grabbed my wrist and tore the razor out of my hand. She threw it to the side and started to yell at me, but I knew she was doing it out of love._

_I started to cry. I begged her not to tell anyone. I was such a mess. It took Erza a while but she finally said she wouldn't tell anyone, but only if I stopped cutting. I promised I wouldn't. So she let me go, but not before breaking my razor into a million pieces with one of her swords. I couldn't stop crying at what I'd done._

_It was okay for a while. I didn't cut. One night, though, it became unbearable. For no reason at all I held a razor in my hand. I was crying and trying to fight the urge but it happened. I cut again and cut some more. I thought of myself as a failure and cut more. I thought of Erza and my broken promise and cut even more. It hurt so bad to think of the betrayal I had done._

_I was so scared of Erza finding out. I pretended everything was okay, that I was better. But lying to her face made it so much worse and I cut even more. I felt so alone and angry. I'd never felt so useless. I just wanted someone to hold me and tell me it was okay even if it wasn't._

_Then one night, due to an extreme amount of alcohol, Laxus and I spent the night together. When we awoke the next morning he saw them. They were fresh. He wouldn't let it go and kept asking me. When I refused to tell him he pinned me down and demanded I tell him. It wasn't like I was scared he was going to hurt me, I was just scared of how he would react._

_I told him it wasn't a big deal and he freaked out. I thought he hated me, and he said he did. He couldn't believe what had happened to me. He was disappointed and I couldn't blame him. He talked about how the Mira he knew wouldn't do that. He even said that Lisanna wouldn't have been happy to know something like that._

_At that point it was as if the world was over. I felt a part of me die. Laxus hadn't said those things to hurt me, he was just upset. I hated him for saying those words even though I knew it was true. Truth be told I always was quite fond of him but it wasn't anything big. After that night though, I thought I hated him._

_I thought that maybe he was going to tell everyone. He didn't. Instead he watched over me like a hawk. I could feel him watching me from across the guild while I was working. When I called him out on it he got really defensive. It was annoying and I was so angry._

_All of a sudden one day Erza pulled me into a closet room. She wanted to check on my scars. I was freaking out and felt so small. I knew she was going to see them and know that I broke my promise. Laxus entered the closet room, which confused Erza and angered me. Laxus said he wanted to see the scars as well. I told him he had no right. He got angry, then I got angry, and eventually Erza got angry. Imagine that, three S-Class mages angry with one another in a closed tight space._

_Laxus ended up pulling my shirt up and pulling my pants down just low enough. I screamed but he covered my mouth. Erza didn't pull Laxus off. She nearly exploded in rage when she saw the scars. I can never forget her hurt face as she said I broke my promise. That I lied straight to her face._

_I started to beg for her to forgive me again but she left the closet space. I almost went after her but my knees were too weak. Laxus hugged me for the first time that day. It was so weird to be in his arms, crying my eyes out when I hated him. He kept saying it was alright though. So even though I hated him, those were the only words I ever wanted to hear._

_I thought Erza was going to tell everyone but she didn't. Instead she told me to try again and try harder. That she forgave me but next time I didn't stop, she was going to tell everyone. I agreed. I've always thought that it was Laxus who changed her mind. If it weren't for that second chance... I don't even want to think about it._

_Slowly, I began opening up to Laxus. I let him watch over me. He even walked me home when work went late. Soon I was used to him being with me. It was natural for us to walk home together even when it wasn't dark out. He made me laugh sometimes, other times we were quiet. It was peaceful. I appreciated the company and realized to myself that I was glad it was him and not anyone else. I was finally feeling happy again._

_Then his banishment happened. He promised he'd be back for me. I couldn't stop crying. After he'd become something so familiar to me, he was gone. At that moment I realized he had his own issues and not just mine to worry about. I had been so selfish. I never asked him about his past or anything but he knew everything about me. Because he asked._

_Day by day it got harder. The urge was stronger. In Laxus's place was Erza, always worrying about me whenever she looked at me. But at that time Erza had her own issues with Jellal and she had her own life so I told her I was fine and not to worry. I hadn't cut since she found out in the closet room. Erza nodded and said she was proud of me._

_A couple of weeks later I almost did it. I almost cut. I had a razor in my hand and I was crying on my knees. Erza was on a mission and Laxus hadn't sent any word of his return. I wanted to see him so bad. But this time I threw the razor out of the window. It took a lot of strength to not cut. I didn't do it because I knew how disappointed Laxus and Erza would be. That, and I didn't want Erza to tell the whole guild. Elfman... He would have been crushed. It wasn't worth it._

_Then Lisanna came back! It was such a shock. That was probably the best day of my life. Life suddenly had colour again. There was reason to live. From ready to throw my life away at any second, I was greedy for more time. Time to catch up and time to make up for with Lisanna. Being with my siblings distracted me from Laxus._

_On Tenroujima I would have thrown my life away for Lisanna. When I first laid eyes on Laxus I was so completely shocked. It was weird and awkward. I didn't know what to do. He was with the Raijinshuu at the time and they were all over him so we didn't have any time for ourselves. I was sure Laxus forgot or didn't care, because he hadn't even looked at me._

_Before Acnologia came, Laxus was playing around with Lisanna. After making sure it was the real thing he pulled me into the woods and hugged me. I was surprised. He said how proud he was of me and that he was so happy I had Lisanna back. I told him he had nothing to be proud of because he didn't know whether or not I had cut while he was gone. He just smiled and said the Mira he knows is strong._

_After the time gap I was so completely grateful towards Gildarts for bringing Laxus back as a member of the guild. With the three months of training for the GMG, Laxus and I met up from time to time. I had a cut from one of Cana's cards and he was worried because he thought it was from me. I assured him it really, really wasn't. He believed me, thankfully._

_I started to realize I hated being away from him. I hated that I depended on him so much. Needed him. But I did. So I told him how I felt. He just laughed and kissed me, which was unexpected. And I guess after that we were in a relationship. Ever since then I haven't had a sad thought. I set my priorities straight. My siblings come first, then my significant other, then the guild. I'm sure Laxus had the same mindset because the Raijinshuu are like his little siblings too._

Lucy sits in a pool of tears. She pulls Mira into a hug and cries. Mira feels a few tears drip from her eyes as well but easily wipes them away. Lucy pulls away but can barely speak due to the tears. "I'm so sorry Mira. I didn't know."

Mira laughs. "Lucy, you have nothing to be sorry about. Listen, **it's not worth it**. Trust me, I've been through it. You'll realize it when the time is right. It's not worth it to cause yourself harm. Because you're not only hurting yourself but the people who love you most."

Lucy nods. The tears continue to fall as she shakes with tears. Her heart hurts from the pain. She can feel the pain Mira went through. It brings hope though. Hope for recovery, hope for a future that isn't so bleak.

Mira grabs Lucy by the shoulders. "Listen Lucy, I know you're probably upset that everyone knows your secret, but you're lucky. I kind of wish I told the whole guild. It would have been nice to have some support when the two people who really supported me through my situation were gone.

"But I'm happy because Elfman doesn't know and that's better than anything else. Don't take anyone or anything for granted alright? You're loved. We all love you. So much. We're all here for you so don't cry anymore, okay? Everyone is just looking out for you and wants the best for you."

Lucy pulls Mira into another hug and sobs loudly. Mira giggles and hugs the girl back. A knock interrupts them. Laxus appears at the doorway. "What's going on? You're gonna wake everyone up."

Lucy jumps up and tackles Laxus in a hug. Laxus stands there shocked as Lucy continues to cry. Mira giggles at the scene. Laxus shakes his head and hugs the girl back. Lucy pulls back with a smile and a pat on Laxus's back. "Laxus you really are a man, huh?"

Laxus blinks multiple times and tries hard to remain cool. He's obviously confused. Lucy laughs and waves at the couple as she exits the room. "I'll just leave you two to your cute coupley self and go make some pancakes, okay? Bye!"

"What was that about?" Laxus asks.

Mira laughs and shakes her head. "Lucy knows."

"Oh." Laxus doesn't seem to care all that much. He moves past Mira and lays on the bed. He pulls her down with him. "Don't think I don't know you slipped away from me. I couldn't sleep when you left, so you have to make up for it."

"But I'm not sleepy." Mira complains teasingly.

"I don't care." Laxus says. He pulls her close and holds on to her tightly, making sure she won't leave him again. Mira smiles as she shuts her eyes. She wasn't planning on it anyway.

* * *

**A/N:** _Omfg, so you can say I'm a Miraxus shipper, haha. I was dying to write this chapter. I know it's quite a long chapter but I got so caught up in it I just typed without stopping. Did you guys think it was good enough?_  
_I cried while writing this ugh! _

_Next chapter includes pancakes and NaLu, so be ready for that. ;)_

_**Sidenote:** Thank you guys so much for the 100+ reviews. It means a lot. I didn't think a story like this could be so popular because it's so different. I'm so glad you enjoy this story and continue to follow it. I appreciate every single one of your reviews, favourites and follows. Thank you. :) _


	10. Urge

Lucy stares at the recipe book with full concentration. She's found a recipe for strawberry vanilla pancakes. The thing is, she's not used to being in the Fairy Hills kitchen, so she has no clue where all the ingredients are.

"There you are, Lucy!" Lucy turns to find Natsu barging into the kitchen. "I was scared you ran off."

Lucy got the message. He was actually scared of her getting up early so she can cut secretly. As a way of answering his concerns without mentioning it, she rolls up her sleeves to show that there are no new fresh cuts. She watches Natsu's eyes look at her arms for a split second before seeing a look of relief wash over Natsu's face.

Her bandages were wet and gross so she had taken them off before entering the kitchen. So now that she looks down at her visible scars she almost flinches. It's gross and she hates it. She wishes they weren't there as a constant reminder of what she is. Lucy shakes her head to stop the negative thoughts and smiles at Natsu.

"I'm gonna make some pancakes. Wanna help?" Lucy places the recipe book on the counter as she puts on an apron.

Natsu grins. "Do I ever!"

"Great, because I have no clue where all of these ingredients are." Lucy says with a pout. She opens up a cupboard to search for vanilla.

Natsu picks up the recipe book and stares at the ingredient list. He heads towards the pantry and takes out sugar and flour. That is, after he rummaged through the whole thing and created a mess. Lucy doesn't even notice as she pulls out eggs and milk from the fridge. They continue to rummage through the kitchen, until Lucy's found all that she needs and Natsu's made a decent size mess.

"I'm re-thinking my decision of asking for your help." Lucy says jokingly, pulling out a bowl to mix the ingredients in.

"I'm re-thinking my decision of agreeing to wear this apron." Natsu says, staring down at the floral pattern. And of course, in that moment, Gray and Gajeel pass by the door and snicker. Natsu groans, his face turning red as he shouts out, "Hey! What are you laughing at?"

"Oh, come on, it's so cute! And the roses really compliment your hair." Lucy compliments. She doesn't look up as she stirs the ingredients together but she can almost feel Natsu's grin as he comes to terms with the fashion statement.

When Lucy's done mixing all the ingredients, she hands the bowl to Natsu. Natsu raises a brow questioningly. Lucy motions for him to move towards the stove. "Come on Natsu, flipping a pancake isn't very hard."

"Yeah but can't you just do it?" Natsu complains, even though he's turning the stove on anyway.

Lucy hands him a pan and a pancake flipper. She grins and shakes her head. "No. I need to cut the strawberries. And I trust you more with flipping pancakes than cutting fruits."

Natsu shrugs. "Understandable."

Lucy looks through the fridge to find strawberries. She throws however many there are into a bowl and washes them. She puts out a fruit cutting board and places everything on the counter, so she can cut next to Natsu. That way she can keep an eye on the pancakes and cut the strawberries at the same time.

As Lucy pulls out a large cutting knife, she motions for Natsu to flip. He does as he's told. Lucy's impressed with the graceful flip and the fact that Natsu placed a plate on the side to lay out the ready pancakes. Lucy takes out a couple of strawberries from the bowl and cuts them in quarters and puts them into another bowl.

Then, suddenly, the urge comes up. Lucy stares at the knife. It's no razor, but it's the sharpest thing she's come across in days. For no reason at all Lucy just wants to swipe the blade over her wrist. It would be so quick, so easy, so satisf-

"Lucy?" Natsu says in a worried tone. He places a hand on her shoulder.

Lucy is brought back to reality. What was she about to do? She was zoned out, completely out of it. She almost cut! It horrified her. Looking up at Natsu's concerned face she feels as if she's betrayed him for even having the thought cross her mind. Lucy sniffs the air, and gasps. "Natsu! Flip the pancake!"

Natsu hurries to flip the very much burnt pancake. He places the pancake in the plate next to him. Lucy backs up. It's her fault he burnt the pancake. God, why was she always such a mess? The cause of incidents? It was a terrible idea to make pancakes.

Natsu hands Lucy the pancake flipper and slowly reaches for the knife still in Lucy's hand. Lucy lets him take it from her. She can feel the knife as it is out of her reach now. No more chance of cutting. Lucy's panting now, and slightly sweating.

"How about we switch?" Natsu suggests.

Lucy nods. She places more batter on the pan, trying hard to calm her racing heart. Normal people wouldn't worry about stuff like this. Normal people wouldn't feel anxious just from holding a knife. But that's just the thing, Lucy isn't normal.

"Don't worry about the burnt pancake. I like mine extra crispy." Natsu says sweetly. He cuts the strawberries expertly. Although he wants to talk about what she just went through, he decided against bringing it up. Right now she just needs to calm down.

Lucy doesn't say anything as she flips pancakes. For the next ten minutes they are cutting and flipping in silence. Lucy takes deep breaths and finally calms down as she flips the last pancake. Natsu had already finished and was munching on a slice of strawberry as he watched Lucy flip.

When she's finished she turns the stove off and sits in a chair, unable to move. She stares at the wall, feeling like a total failure. Natsu follows and rubs her back supportively. He sticks his head out the kitchen door and yells, "Pancakes are done! Come and get one!"

One by one they come in and grab plates and forks. You can see the excitement in the guys' eyes as they rush to grab a pancake, topping it with strawberries and whipped cream. Gajeel lifts the burnt pancake. "Oi! Who flipped the pancakes?"

"I did." Lucy says in a small voice.

"In that case, I'm taking this one." Gajeel says, giving a little gihee as he slathers the burnt pancake with strawberries and whipped cream.

"Hey! Buzz off! That one's mine." Natsu argues, slamming his forehead against Gajeel's.

Gajeel grunts and pushes the fire dragon slayer away. "Shut the hell up. You can just grab another one."

Gajeel exits before Natsu can have another word. Lucy covers her mouth to hide her snicker. All that for a burnt pancake. It warms Lucy's heart with gratitude. Natsu just slumps on the counter, annoyed. He was supposed to be the sweet guy who ate the burnt pancake, not stupid Gajeel. Plus, it was the pancake he made.

"Calm down Natsu, I'm sure we can just burn another pancake for you." Lucy jokes. She stands up from her chair finally and grabs her own pancake.

Natsu shakes his head. "No thanks. I wanted that one especially."

Lucy just sighs. Of course. Lucy sits back on her chair and digs into her pancake. She doesn't really have an appetite but she has to put on a face for Natsu. Even just half way through she can feel her stomach protesting, but she continues to take little bites. When she's finished, she feels completely nauseous. But Natsu's watching her carefully, so she just smiles.

"Aren't you going to have one?" Lucy questions.

"Nah. Not hungry." Natsu says, his arms crossed as he analyzes Lucy. "So what do you wanna do today?"

Lucy stops to think. "I don't know. What should we do?"

"You wanna go on a job? We haven't done that in a while." Natsu suggests.

"Yeah! That would be fun! Should we go ask Gray and Erza too?" Lucy asks, getting up and placing her dish in the sink, along with the dirty bowl with the excess batter. "And we should probably go get Happy too."

"How about a mission with just you and me?" Natsu asks.

Lucy freezes. "J-Just us? What about Happy?"

"Oh, he's probably tired. We should give him a break. Not to mention he's probably wanting to do his little exceed things with Carla and Lily. And I'm pretty sure Gray is a little pre-occupied." Juvia's voice is heard calling Gray's name over and over again.

Lucy laughs. "Okay sure. I need to go home and change. How about you pick up the job for us?"

Lucy sees the worried look in Natsu's eyes as he stares at her wrists. "I'm not so sure going our separate ways is the best idea right now."

"Natsu, I'll be fine. It's only a couple of hours. And I need to shower and change, so it's not like you could keep an eye on me then anyway."

"Unless you wanted me to."

"Natsu!" Lucy's faces turns crimson. "Okay, it's official, I'm going home and you're going to the guild."

"Oh come on, Lucy! I was just kidding." Natsu says with a teasing smirk. "Unless of course, you don't want me to be kidding."

"Natsu!"

"Okay, okay." With a smirk Natsu hops off the counter. He waves a good bye as he exits the kitchen. "See you in a couple of hours. Oh, and Lucy? I trust you."

Natsu leaves after saying those words. Lucy feels like her heart will tear out of her chest, slap her across the face, and run out the door. How could he say such perverted stuff? How embarrassing! Lucy covers her cheeks. Her face only grows more red when she realizes she'll be on a mission with him, _alone_. Who knows what other perverted comments he may make!

To hear Natsu speak that way is just plain weird. An image of Natsu crosses her mind. The seductive smirk she's never seen before is gracing his lips. Suddenly she feels herself sweating and finds it hard to breathe.

Lucy squeals and covers her face with her hands. Okay, she needs to go home. Right now. And possibly find a way to avoid this mission. Natsu and her, _alone_. For who knows how many nights! Lucy shrieks and heads home, in desperate need of fresh air.

* * *

**A/N:** _Boring chapter. I know. But wait, Natsu and Lucy alone for a couple of nights? Gee, I wonder what the could mean...? ;) Haha, jk. You'll just have to read to find out what happens! If you're picking up what I'm laying down... ;);) _**#PervertedNatsu**

_Reviews are greatly appreciated! Thank you for reading! :)_


	11. Temptation

Lucy enters her room slowly. Being away from it for a couple of days made it feel weird to come back. Even if she's been gone for longer. This time she feels like a totally different person. Her room feels foreign to her. She only dreads the bathroom, since it brings back so many awful memories.

Lucy pulls out a towel from her hall closet, and heads towards the bathroom in her room. She stops when passing by her night table, where there is cold tea and gross melted ice cream. She crinkles her nose. Unable to stand the sight she takes the bowl and cup with her to the washroom, dumping its contents in the sink. She places the empty cup and bowl back on her night stand and finally feels at ease.

Shutting the bathroom door behind her, Lucy slowly takes off an article of clothing after another. She runs a brush through her hair and stares at her naked body. She sighs. Her body. No where near as beautiful as any of the other girls' bodies. And her random birthmark on her hip that looking like a star. But an ugly star.

With yet another sigh of dissatisfaction Lucy almost reaches for her drawer. Her hand freezes over the handle. At the back of her drawer still sits all of her razors. It's tempting, but Lucy fights it. Suddenly, the voice inside her head whispers, "How about a quick cut on your hip? No one will know~ Plus you can just shower the blood away. No suspicion or anything! Quick and easy!"

"No." Lucy says aloud, backing away. "Natsu trusts me. If I can't even be alone for a couple of hours, than what am I worth?"

Lucy enters the shower and turns the water on hot. She feels relief flood through her as the scorching water relaxes the tension in her back. She didn't cut. She fought it. It's possible to fight the temptation. Lucy did it. She can do it again next time too. It's okay. She's okay.

With deep breaths, Lucy keeps running the same lines over and over in her head. Just hold on until Natsu's back. She can do that. She _will_ do that. She can't even imagine hurting Natsu again by cutting. See that look on his face once was bad enough. Twice... That would be too much to handle. For both of them.

Lucy turns the water off and wraps a towel around herself. She exits the bathroom and looks through her closet to grab her clothes. She changes quickly and lays on her bed for a while. What is she supposed to do while she waits for Natsu? Should she just head to the guild, or wait for him here?

"Lucy!" A voice calls from somewhere inside her house, most likely the kitchen. Lucy jumps at the sudden noise. She makes her way downstairs to find Natsu in the kitchen, with a mouth full of her left-over chicken. He waves a flyer in his hand and says with a stuffed mouth, "I found an easy job for us!"

"What is it?" Lucy takes the flyer out of his hands. She reads, "'Help wanted! Please find our lost daughter in the East Forest! **50,000 Jewels**' Doesn't sound too hard. And it's not very far at all! Should we head out right now?"

"Every second counts." Natsu says.

Lucy's sweat drops. "It's kind of hard to take you seriously when your mouth is full of chicken."

"Oh, sorry." Natsu swallows the last of the chicken and grins. "Okay, we can go now."

The two head towards the house of the requester. The house is just outside of the forest, but close enough to the city to be part of Magnolia. No wonder the child would have gotten lost in the forest. Lucy nudges Natsu. "You've been to the East Forest a couple of times, haven't you? You probably know your way around, right?"

"More than just a couple of times. I know my way around the basic areas. I have no clue where a little girl could be hiding." Natsu answers. "But if anything, she probably found Porlyusica's house and stayed there."

"Except Porlyusica hates humans and would turn her away." Lucy says. "So we have no clue whether or not she'd be there."

"Even still, it's a good place to start."

When the two reach a house that looks as if it might be the one, Lucy taps lightly on the door. After a few seconds, the door opens to show a couple who seem to have been crying. Lucy looks over at Natsu who shrugs. The husband is first to speak. "Y-Yes?"

Lucy smiles warmly at the couple. "Hello! I'm Lucy and this is Natsu. We're here on behalf of your request to find your daughter?"

"Oh, yes, please come in!" The husband says, stepping aside and allowing the two entrance. Lucy walks in first, followed by Natsu. The man leads them to the living room while the woman heads to kitchen, muttering something about tea through her sobs. Lucy and Natsu take a seat on the couch, and the man takes a seat on the couch across from them.

"My name is Koga Chikafusa. My wife's name is Koga Hikaru. Two days ago we were out enjoying a picnic with our daughter, Yuna, when she ran off. She said something about going to see the river and went to go look at it. We began to get worried when she didn't come back. We were searching for her all day, and when it began to get dark, I suggested Hikaru go home. She's pregnant and I don't want her to stress.

I was looking for her all night, and even throughout the next day. While I was searching, Hikaru placed a request at your guild. I began to think I myself was lost, and headed back. We thought we should leave it to you mages to help." Chikafusa says.

"So... Worst case scenario is that she fell in the river." Lucy says. "Best case scenario is that she is lost."

"Great! We'll head out now!" Natsu says, completely disregarding Hikaru as she walks in with four cups of tea.

"Natsu, relax." Lucy says. "Can we see a picture of her, so we know who to look for?"

"Oh, of course!" Chikafusa takes out his wallet and hands them a picture of the girl.

Lucy is surprised to be looking at a beautiful young lady, probably Lucy's age. Natsu gives the picture a glance too. Lucy looks up at him, expecting him to gush over her beauty, but instead he nods his head. "Alright, we know who we're looking for. Let's go!"

Natsu dashes out the door. Lucy gives the couple an apologetic smile. "Sorry, he gets excited easily. I promise we'll find your daughter for you. And I wish you two luck with your pregnancy."

"That's very kind of you, Lucy." Hikaru says, rubbing her belly.

Lucy waves and runs after Natsu. When she catches up to him, she knows his first location he wants to visit already. Lucy nudges Natsu's side. "So, that Yuna girl is really pretty. And her name is beautiful too. I wonder what she looks like in person."

"Eh." Natsu replies, uninterested.

"She looks very kind. Her parents were very nice, too. I wonder if we'll become friends?" Lucy wonders whole-heartedly. Also, it's a way of seeing if Natsu is really interested in any girl other than her. Natsu doesn't even blink. Lucy smiles slightly. Natsu doesn't really care about the girl in a romantic sense, only business from the looks of it.

Once Porlyusica's house is in view, Natsu runs to knock on the door. Porlyusica opens it with angry scowl. "What do you want, Fairy Tail?!"

"Hello, Porlyusica-san!" Lucy says pleasantly. "We're here on a mission to find a girl about my age. Brunette hair, brown eyes, about 5'6?"

"Haven't seen her." Porlyusica says sharply, about to slam the door when Natsu sticks his arm out.

"Have you heard anything that could have sounded like a girl in the last two days? Even something distant? Or even a twig snapping? She could have been calling for help from some place." Natsu says seriously.

Porlyusica sighs. "Child, leave me be. I have not noticed anything suspicious in the last week. This is a forest, if there is a twig snapping, it's just another animal, which there are a lot of. So hurry up and find the girl before she is eaten, rather than pestering me."

With that she slams the door and leaves Lucy and Natsu standing on her front step. Lucy puckers her lips and pops them. "Well, that was a pleasant encounter. Where to?"

"We can go look around the river. Try to find any clues there or even find her." Natsu says, leading the way. "And if she's not there, then we're screwed."

Lucy sighs. "I promised the Koga's we'd find their daughter."

"But who's to say we'll find her alive?" Natsu asks.

"Natsu, don't say stuff like that." Lucy says sadly, feeling a shiver run down her spine. "We're gonna find her. And we're gonna take her home."

Natsu nods. Soon, they reach the river bank. The start off looking to find foot prints our any kind of evidence that could show she's been there. But there isn't anything, not even a sign that shows she may have fallen into the river and carried out by the waves.

"She's not here. So either she didn't make it here, or she got lost on her way here." Lucy observes. "We should try looking deeper into the forest."

"I have a feeling she may be taking shelter in one of the trees. It would protect her from the animals and she'd have a place to sleep at night." Natsu adds. "But there are plenty of trees, and it's beginning to get dark."

"Not to mention the clouds look kind of scary." Lucy notices with a gulp.

"Let's take a look around a couple of trees nearby then take shelter in one of them when it gets dark." Natsu orders. Lucy nods and they make their way to the first tree near them. They search around it and continue to look inside. Once that tree is clear, they move on to another, and another.

"Koga Yuna!" Natsu calls out. "Koga Yuna! We're here to rescue you! Koga Yuna!"

"Natsu! What if a forest vulcan hears you?" Lucy warns, looking around yet another tree.

Natsu scoffs. "Then I'll kick his ass."

Lucy is about to reply when she feels a large drop of water land on her cheek, followed by a couple more on her head. Lucy ducks inside the tree for cover, followed by Natsu. Natsu closes the door and turns to Lucy, who's is trying to adjust to the dark. "I can't see anything!"

Natsu lights his hand on fire, giving them some light. Lucy sighs in relief. She looks around the tight space. "So, are we supposed to sleep here for the night and head out to search again in the morning? It's kind of small in here."

"I'd let you sleep in here alone but I'm worried you'd be afraid of the dark." Natsu says, taking a seat on the ground. "I guess we'll have to sleep here."

Lucy lays down and looks over at Natsu, who's still sitting. "Aren't you going to sleep?"

Natsu nods, laying down next to Lucy. He places a protective arm around her waist. The flame is gone but Lucy can see the outline of Natsu's face. He's smiling at her. Lucy blushes when she feels him lean his head closer. Close enough to feel his hot breath on her shoulder.

"N-Natsu?" Lucy says stiffly.

"Hmm?" Natsu answers back lazily.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Lucy says, cursing herself for sounding so squeaky.

Natsu grins. "Nothing I couldn't do more of."

"Natsu..."

Natsu's arm tightens around Lucy, securing her next to him. He just chuckles slightly before wandering off to sleep. Lucy's eyes are wide open though. Why does he keep doing this? And why does he just fall asleep so soon? Not that she's complaining or anything... But-ugh!

What does all of this teasing mean even? Does this mean he's interested? Or is he leading her on? Or is he just being the clueless Natsu that he is? Well you can't quite say such things and be clueless about it. But is he implying something here... Dammit Natsu!

All she can do now is sleep. But it's hard to do that when the guy you borderline love is sleeping right next to you, with his arm over you and you can feel his breath on your shoulder. Which, quite frankly, tickles a lot. Just the usual, you know.

* * *

**A/N:** _Haha, I hope that was a good tease ;) I'm still waiting for that right moment to add it in. I mean, it wouldn't be nice to just be like, "BABAM" and out of no where LEMONS, LEMONS EVERYWHERE. _

_Can you guys guess in the reviews who Koga Yuna is based off of? Haha, you probably won't get it, but take a wild guess. ;) Hint: A girl not from the anime world, but still named "Yuna"._

_Reviews are greatly appreciated!_


	12. Dream

This time Natsu awoke first. He smiled upon the sight that was Lucy in his arms. She seemed to look a bit uncomfortable, but she still looked as beautiful as ever. He gently nudged her awake. "Hey, Lucy, we've gotta go look around more for Yuna."

Lucy groans and stirs. She pulls herself up into a sitting position. She nods her head and the two get to work. Lucy rubs her eyes as they start on a couple of other trees. A feeling of hopelessness goes through her as they reach their twentieth tree that day. "Natsu, I don't think she's hiding in a tree."

"She must be in a tree. It's the safest place she could hide. Where else could she be if not in a tree?" Natsu argues.

"It's so foggy out. Maybe she's hiding in a bush? That would be a pretty safe spot to hide. Plus she would be able to eat the berries."

"Okay, go take a look around a couple of bushes. I'll continue searching the trees." Natsu says, heading off to another tree. Lucy sighs and approaches a bush. She rustles through it in search of Yuna. Giving up, Lucy turns to head back to Natsu.

With a crazy speed, something-or someone, knocks Lucy down on the ground. The person yells out, "Who are you?! What do you want?!"

Lucy shrieks. It's impossible to see in the fog. Lucy's back aches, and she can tell she's landed in a pile of rocks. Whoever was on top of her grabbed a hold of her wrists, squeezing harshly, bringing pain to the scars and cuts along her wrist. This causes Lucy to yell out in pain.

Suddenly, with shocking force, the person is ripped off her. Lucy hears a shriek and a soft thump as the person lands next to Lucy. Natsu reaches down and pulls Lucy up off the ground. "You alright, Lucy?"

"I'm okay." Lucy replies, holding her wrists. She looks down at her attacker. "Are you Koga Yuna?"

The attacker doesn't speak. Natsu reaches down and pulls the person to her feet. She is, in fact, Koga Yuna. She looks scared and embarrassed. Lucy smiles at the girl. "Hey, we're not here to hurt you. Your parents sent us out to look for you."

Yuna sighs. "They didn't have to do that..."

"Yeah, the kind of did." Natsu says. "You were lost. We're here to take you back."

Yuna turns her cheek. "Maybe I don't want to go back."

"What?!" Lucy screams. "What do you mean you don't want to go back? Your parents are worried sick about you! They put a request up at our guild for someone to find you and placed the reward at 50,000 Jewel! That's a lot of money!"

Yuna sighs. "I was never lost okay? I was trying to runaway."

"Why in the hell would you do that?" Natsu questions.

"I wanted to go to the capital Crocus and become an actress. But my parents have always been against my dreams. I thought maybe if I could take the opportunity to slip away when they weren't looking, I could go to Crocus and live out my dream! I was going to change my name to Ayumi." Yuna explains sadly, her eyes tearing up. "It's not like it would matter if I was gone, they have another baby on the way to replace me."

"To be honest I ran away from home too. For the same reasons actually, I wanted to join Fairy Tail, it was my dream. My father would never allow it so I ran away. I know how much you want to live out your dream, but please discuss it with your parents first. They are worried sick about you and it's not good for your mother to stress over it." Lucy says.

Yuna sighs. "I can't. I only want to become an actress. If you really went through the same thing, then you should understand where I am coming from."

"Listen here, our job is to take you home safe and sound." Natsu says. "If you want to become an actress, how do you expect to make it to Crocus with no money? And look around you, _you're in a forest._ If you want to go to Crocus, we will escort you. But only when you discuss it with your parents."

"Really?" Yuna looks at him with hopeful eyes. Natsu nods. "Thank you so much! I promise to talk to them!"

Lucy smiles. As they begin heading back, Lucy trails behind to walk with Yuna. "So Yuna, how old are you?"

"16." Yuna replies. "Sorry about tackling you. Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine. I'm 17 by the way. And my name is Lucy. The guy in front of us is Natsu." Lucy replies. Natsu gives a wave of his hand without turning around. Without Happy around he's not as rowdy. Lucy smiles warmly while she watches Natsu's back as he walks.

"So how long have you two been together?" Yuna asks. Lucy nearly chokes, but since she wasn't drinking or eating anything, she didn't. Instead she turns a light shade of pink as she continues to stare at Natsu's unflinching body. Yuna notices the blush and giggles. "Oh, I see. Still working on it?"

Lucy turns full on red. Natsu just looks back with a grin. "You could say that."

"N-Natsu..." Lucy stammers.

"Well, please spare me the awkward moment and talk about it later, alright? I still have to figure out what I'm going to tell my parents." Yuna says with a worried sigh. "How am I going to explain that I ran away on purpose?"

"Just come out with the truth." Natsu replies. "And don't even think about making some story up. You won't have time anyway, we're here."

Yuna groans. Lucy smiles supportively. "Go on, knock."

Yuna glances at Lucy then at Natsu. She gulps and approaches the door helplessly. With a final glance over her shoulder she says, "Please remain outside. Things could get messy in there and I don't want to drag the two of you into it."

"Friends stick together through the tough times!" Lucy says, taking steps forward. "Trust me, I know. You'll really appreciate us supporting you."

Yuna smiles. "If you actually want to consider me a friend after I tackled you onto a bunch of rocks, then who am I to tell you we're not."

Lucy grins and stands next to Yuna. She encourages Yuna to knock. With a little hesitance in her hand, Yuna reaches up with a fist and taps lightly on the wood. Natsu stands back with his arms crossed. He gives a small smile at the sight.

Lucy, supporting others when they're in need, even when she is in more pain and in need of more support. The one who smiles at her friends to help them through tough times but not accepting their help when she needs it. The strong Lucy who can handle just about anything. Natsu sighs. This is the Lucy he-

"Yuna!" Chikafusa and Hikaru yell at the top of their lungs when they open the door. They grab their daughter in a heart warming embrace. They shed tears and whisper words of affection. Lucy clasps her hands and places her hands in front of her mouth to try and suppress the tears from falling.

When they're finally done embracing one another, Chikafusa turns to the mages. "Thank you so much! Here is your reward!"

Hikaru pulls out a bag and offers it to Lucy. Lucy shakes her head. "I'm sorry, I can't. I really can't take-"

"Take it." Yuna says with a smile. "Or I'll be mad!"

"Well if it'll put your hearts at ease..." Lucy says a bit hesitantly. She takes the bag and hands it over to Natsu.

Yuna turns towards her parents. "I have something I need to talk to you about... Promise not to get mad."

"What could it be about?" Hikaru questions. "Of course we won't be mad."

Yuna takes a deep breath. "I... I purposefully ran away in the forest. I wanted to run away to Crocus to become an actress. You guys already told me you don't approve of that career choice, so I ran away. I did it because it's my dream to be an actress. I love you guys, but since there's a baby on the way I thought it'd be okay because you guys could just replace me. But I realize those thoughts were so wrong. I shouldn't have ran away. It was the biggest mistake of my life. But you have to understand all I've ever wanted was to be an actress. I never complained about anything, I always helped out whenever I could. I was obedient. I respect and love you guys so much. So it hurt a lot when you guys crushed my dreams like that. But now I know what I want, and I'mm asking for your graces. I will be an actress no matter what, but it would be a million times better if you approved."

After a moment of silence, Chikafusa sighs. "If it means so much to you... And you would go through such great lengths... I guess it's okay for you to go..."

"Really?!" Yuna shrieks, grinning wide. She's hopping up and down with excitement. She pulls her father in a hug. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Hikaru wipes a tear from her eye. "The truth it, we were just afraid you'd leave us. By denying you your dream you left us anyway... That was our mistake. We don't really oppose of the thought of you being an actress. You're talented enough and as beautiful as the brightest flower."

"Mom..." Yuna moves from her dad to her mom. "I promise to visit as often as possible. And I'll be back for the baby's birth, and I'll send you letters. Thank you so much."

Chikafusa wraps his arms around his two favourite women in his life. Lucy looks away out of respect for their privacy. Instead she smiles brightly at Natsu. Natsu smiles back equally as bright. This is the happiest he's seen Lucy in a while, he wanted to cherish it.

"Can I go now...?" Yuna asks. She pulls away to look at her parents faces.

"Honey, it's three in the afternoon. It takes hours to get to Crocus." Chikafusa says.

"That's alright! I can't wait that long!" Yuna says. She looks over at her two new friends. "I mean, if that's okay with you guys."

Lucy shrugs. "Why not?"

Hikaru rushes to find her wallet. "Oh, Yuna you're going to need some Jewels! And we need to give your friends some more too for the escort-"

Lucy quickly refuses. "Oh, no! This isn't a job! We're friends! Please give any whatever you can to Yuna!"

Yuna blushes and takes the Jewels. Lucy and Natsu walk off a little, giving Yuna time to say her farewells to her parents. When they're in private, Natsu wraps his arm around Lucy's shoulder. Lucy looks up at him with a confused expression. Natsu grins and says, "You're so awesome."

"What?" Lucy asks.

Natsu shakes his head. He just continues to smile down at her. Yuna clears her throat, gaining the attention of the two team mates. "So, uhm, should we get going? Or should I give you a moment of privacy? It's totally cool if you guys wanna go off and kiss or something. I can wait."

"What are you talking about?!" Lucy says, face flushed. "We can go now."

Lucy moves out of Natsu's grasp. Yuna laughs and shakes her head. She follows Lucy down the trail.

* * *

**A/N:**_ Ugh, I'm not totally satisfied with this chapter, but hey, it shows how wonderful of a person Lucy is. Not to mention Natsu just keeps falling for her natural charms. *Sparkling eyes*_

_No, it's not Yuna from Final Fantasy! Haha. Kim Yuna was a close guess ;) And I said she was 16 in the story but she's not._

_Reviews are appreciated! :)_


	13. Journey

"Motion sickness?" Yuna inquiries with raised eyebrows. Natsu groans with his head on Lucy's lap as he holds his stomach and resists the urge to puke his guts out. Yuna smiles. "I didn't think a pair of wheels were his weakness."

Lucy giggles slightly, petting Natsu's hair in a soothing motion. "Yeah, it's kind of unbelievable. He gets completely out of it. He wouldn't be able to register anything you say, he's too focused on not vomiting. Which I'm grateful for because I'd rather not have puke all over me."

Yuna nods. _He won't be able to hear anything, hey?_ She thinks. "Hey, I was wondering something and I hope it's not too personal or anything. But the other day when I tackled you, you didn't really scream that much until I squeezed your wrists. And I couldn't help but notice the cuts while we were walking. I was just wondering about them."

Lucy freezes and considers lying. But she's against lying to a friend. So with a sigh, she explains, "I self-harm. I'm a depressed mess that my friends are trying to fix now. But I'm grateful to them, especially this one on my lap."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-uhm..." Yuna trails off, not knowing what to say. Lucy only smiles understandingly. Yuna decides to change the topic. "So, Lucy. Wanna tell me a bit more about you two's relationship?"

"What do you mean?" Lucy says with a blush. She places a finger on her lips in a 'shh' motion and points to the groaning boy.

Yuna shrugs. "You said he couldn't hear anything anyway, so it's okay."

Lucy thought about it for a moment. Well, maybe she should just come out with it. And a little part of her is actually hoping for Natsu to know this too. That way he can actually initiate something more. "Well, how obvious is it that I like him?"

"Uhm... On a scale of 1-10, you're an 8. Natsu's a 10." Yuna says with a teasing grin. Lucy blushes and covers her cheeks the way Juvia would. Natsu groans in agony and protest of the retreating hand. Yuna laughs. "But hey, you really seem to be in denial about it all. Do you even think Natsu likes you?"

"No, but's it's nice to hear." Lucy says with a grin. Her smile is rubbed off when Yuna gives her a pointed look. With a sigh Lucy says, "It's just... I don't actually feel good enough for him. Out of all people, why would it be me? He could be with practically anyone. And he's just the perfect guy! I'm nothing."

Yuna gasps and shakes her head violently. "Lucy! You're such an amazing friend! You're so beautiful and kind! And don't even get me started on the chemistry between you two. Your doubts have no meaning anyway. He likes you. It's all in the looks. It's so blatantly obvious. And if he likes you then you're obviously good enough for him!"

Lucy feels her heart clench. Really? Is what Yuna saying the truth? Yuna sees the doubt in Lucy's eyes so she leans forward for Lucy's free hand. (Her other is pre-occupied with petting Natsu once more.) "Listen, Natsu's an amazing guy. And if you think he is so amazing and can make good decisions and is always right, then you have nothing to worry about! Because if such an amazing person likes you than obviously it's the right decision. Why? Because it's _their_ decision."

"I-I never thought of it like that before..." Lucy said breathlessly. Her heart was pounding again. She took a glance down at Natsu but deemed it impossible for him to hear any of the conversation. His face is contorted in pain. It's actually really cute.

"So don't push him away with crap like thinking you're not good enough for him, because chances are, he really doesn't care. He obviously thinks you are good enough and what more matters?" Yuna says wisely. She leans back in her seat exhaustedly. "And I know I keep saying obviously but I'm sorry, the signs are all there. You're just not putting it together."

Before Lucy can reply, the train stops. Natsu springs onto his feet. "YES! Let's go!"

The two girls follow behind. They grab their belongings and head out. Once they're out of the station, Lucy looks from side to side. The city is huge, and if not for the Grand Magic Games, she'd be totally lost. Even now it's difficult to know where they're going.

"So, do you know where you want to go?" Lucy asks Yuna. Natsu is already searching for a restaurant nearby.

"Yeah, there's supposed to be a company around here. Star Museum. I heard they give you a free dorm if you pass the audition!" Yuna says excitedly. "And they supposedly hold one every Saturday. That's why I wanted to leave as soon as my parents said it's okay to go."

"Well do you know where to find it?"

"It should be down a couple of streets, take a left then a right and keep heading down there until I see a line-up. That's when I'll know for sure the auditions are there." Yuna laughs. "Thank you. So much for coming all this way. I really appreciate it. I'll come visit you sometime, okay?"

Lucy shakes her head. "No, don't say goodbye yet. We're not leaving until we know for sure you have a place to go."

"This is my place." Yuna replies. "This whole city. You've done what you needed to do, so you guys can go back. Don't miss me too much though."

Lucy is very hesitant about it, and almost argues, but realizes this is something Yuna must do on her own. Just as she had done so.

"Hey, when you're a star, make sure to tell everyone you're friends with Lucy Heartfilia." Lucy says with a wink. "And I'd like an invitation to all of your A List parties, with all of the fancy cocktails and such."

Yuna laughs. "Of course! What else would I do with my A List invitations?"

"It's was nice meeting you Yuna. You're gonna make it big, trust me." Lucy says, enveloping the younger girl in a hug.

"You too. And I know you're gonna make it through your hardships. You're a wonderful person, I wish you could believe it more." Yuna replies. "Tell Natsu I say bye and he's a great guy, okay? And next time I see you, you better be with Natsu. In a relationship type of be with, if you get what I mean."

Lucy laughs. She doesn't even blush at the comment this time. "We'll work on it."

"Well, see you soon!" Yuna says with a wave. Lucy watches her new friend disappear to achieve her dream.

For a sudden moment Lucy doesn't understand why but she starts to cry. The way Yuna's steps seem so determined and anxious at the same time. It reminds her of when she left her own home to go join Fairy Tail. It was a long journey but she finally made it. All the little things in between were worth it. So worth it. Hopefully that's how Yuna will feel about it also.

"Hey I found a good spicy restaurant over-" Natsu stops mid-sentence when he sees Lucy crying and no Yuna in sight. "Why are you crying? And where is Yuna?"

"She left to go to an audition." Lucy says with a smile. Yuna was so far ahead Lucy couldn't see her anymore. "I told her we would go with her but I get the feeling it's something she has to do alone. We said our goodbyes already, she said to tell you bye."

Natsu groans. "What? But we didn't even get to eat! I'm starving! And I bet she is too!"

"Yeah but I'm pretty sure there are a lot of bigger things in her mind than food right now. Trust me." Lucy replies. She clears her throat and gives Natsu a quick glance. "We could, uhm, go eat together. Just the two of us?"

Natsu looks at Lucy for a moment before nodding violently. "Yes! It could be our first date!"

"Natsu!" Lucy says with a blush.

"What?"

"W-We're not dating!"

"Why not?"

"B-Because you never officially asked!"

"Who cares?"

"I do! It's not proper."

"Well... Wanna date?"

Lucy stops talking. She stares up at Natsu who looks completely nonchalant about the whole situation, and yet so serious. But, wait a minute. Natsu had just asked her the words she'd always wanted to hear from him. He just asked her out. Is that even possible? Does that even make sense?

In a way she expected something like this from Natsu. Out of the blue, casually asking her out in the middle of a conversation. But she'd always pictured it differently in her head. Well, as a kid anyway. She wanted something a lot more romantic than that.

But then she met Natsu and of course that romantic fantasy was blown away. Even if it's not what she expected or was hoping for, it was still asking the thing she wanted most. _Ugh... Natsu why do you have to be so... Natsu like?_ Lucy thinks in her head. Even though the perfect ideal situations in her head she was hoping for were crushed, it doesn't really matter. Because, well, it's Natsu and Natsu is now her ideal perfect situation. Not some stupid fancy restaurant with flowers and chocolates and maybe a little bit of sake. Natsu.

Lucy smiles wide. The widest and happiest smile that she could. "That's better."

She moves past Natsu and heads down the street. The only problem is that she doesn't actually know where the restaurant is. Natsu is still left standing there. He looks over at her retreating figure and calls out, "Was that a yes?"

Lucy giggles. Natsu sighs. Why were women so confusing? Especially to him. It was so hard to figure it out. Natsu follows Lucy and can't help but feel amused at the fact that she has no clue where to go. Jeez, just saying yes would have been fine.

Why did it matter so much to have to confirm a relationship for her? Why was it so important to do such things? Natsu really couldn't care less but it made Lucy happy. And she hasn't been happy in so long. It's the least he could do. After all, it was important to Lucy, so it was important to him.

Lucy thinks to herself for a minute. _So I guess this means we're a couple..._ She squeals silently in delight. Thoughts of the adventures they'll have when they get home run through her mind. This should be interesting.

* * *

**A/N:** _Haha, adventures._

_So this story is getting sunnier... Haha. I'm gonna need to spice things up again. ;)_

_Say goodbye to Yoona guys! She was a fun character to write. Maybe she'll make a comeback in the future...? Do you guys want her to?_

_Review please!_


	14. Delusion

"I feel so cold." Lucy says on the train. They were boarding the train back to Magnolia, much to Natsu's reluctance. With rain pattering down and wind blowing hard it was not pleasant at all. Lucy could only wonder what Yuna was doing at that moment. Was she auditioning? Or were they done yet?

"Come here and I'll warm you up." Natsu suggests, patting the empty space next to him.

Lucy blushes but decided not to fight it and do as she's told. She should feel more comfortable with Natsu now. When she takes a seat next to him, he puts an arm around her shoulders and pulls her towards him. She slowly and hesitantly leans her head on his shoulder, a small smile gracing her lips.

The moment is too short. As soon as Lucy is completely calm, the train moves with a jolt and Natsu pushes her away. His head immediately lands on her lap as he tries to suppress the urge to puke once more. Lucy sighs. Typical.

As she pets Natsu's hair she slowly relaxes once more. Thoughts of their "first date" rewind through her head. It wasn't exactly anything special or different, same old everything really. But in a way it _was_ different. For her at least. Natsu had eaten like a pig but he made her laugh a lot. He even pulled out her chair but forgot to push it in, so Lucy had to scoot closer to the table herself. This time though, Natsu took the bill.

The food was... Delicious but a little too much to handle for Lucy. Although she put on a face for Natsu, who didn't really seem to notice. Lucy's main course was the water, due to the spiciness. It was weird for the two of them to be alone but it made it all the more real.

Lucy would have liked to say that they walked home together but sadly they walked to the train station. Is this reality? Has this all been a dream? Is Yuna even real? How could Lucy be with Natsu? It seemed like such a far-fetched dream only a couple of days ago. And now they had just gone on a date... Well, if you really wanna call it that, anyway. Well this was a Natsu date, and it was enough for Lucy.

Lucy's hand stops petting Natsu as she begins to lose consciousness. Natsu groans. It takes a lot of effort but he reaches up for her hand. For a minute he almost wakes her up but decides against it. Instead he'll just try to refrain from vomiting on her instead.

When the train finally stops, it's pretty dark. Natsu slowly rises and holds his head, trying to get rid of his dizziness. He reaches out and nudges Lucy awake. Lucy groans and rubs her eyes. "Are we home yet?"

"Well, we're in Magnolia." Natsu replies. He stands up and offers her a hand. She takes it gladly. "So do you want to go visit the guild?"

Lucy shakes her head. "I'm so tired... We can see them tomorrow. I just wanna get home."

It's difficult for Lucy's eyes to remain open, let alone for her to walk. She can't even stand, she stumbles a little and has to reach out for Natsu's arm to keep her steady. A voice from the overhead says, "All passenger please exit now, last call."

Natsu curses and turns his back to Lucy. He leans down and motions for her to get on. "Come on, you can't even walk. I'll take you home."

"No, no, I can-" Lucy's voice is groggy. Before she can finish her sentence she falls on to Natsu's back. Natsu pulls her arms over his shoulders and wraps them around his neck, before placing his hands around her legs and picking her up.

"Damn, Lucy, you're worse when you're tired than you are when you're drunk." Natsu mutters. Lucy mumbles incoherent gibberish as she enters the land of sleep once more. Natsu makes his way out of the train and heads to Lucy's apartment. That train ride was hell, and Natsu's not gonna deny his own fatigue.

It takes a while for him to reach her house. It's dark and his eyes kept shutting. He was jolted awake when he accidentally stumbled, but he managed to catch himself. That stumble caused Lucy to stir and grunt lightly. Natsu let out a sigh of relief.

Having no other way of entering her apartment, Natsu kicks the door. It gives away easily, and Natsu makes a note in his head to fix that so no one else can break in. As he enters and turns on the lights she kicks the door closed. He makes his way upstairs and enters her room.

With an accomplished grin, Natsu throws Lucy onto the bed, following straight after. This action causes Lucy to wake up. "N-Natsu? ...Did you take me to my apartment?"

"Yup." Natsu replies, crawling under the sheets next to her. Lucy doesn't have enough energy to fight so she closes her eyes. Natsu moves closer and places an arm around her. Lucy feels the tickle of his breath but doesn't move. That is, until his lips make contact with her neck.

"N-Natsu!" Lucy cries out, completely awake. She stiffens and tries to move away but Natsu's hold is strong. "W-What are you doing?"

Natsu grins mischievously. He too is now completely awake. In a swift motion he throws a leg over her and gets up so he's on his knees staring down at her. Lucy's blush can be seen through the dark, which Natsu finds very amusing. He places a hand by her head and another in her hair as he leans down and places his lips gently over Lucy's.

Lucy is taken by surprise but responds immediately. His lips are soft, and moving in synch with her own. She opens her mouth slightly, and Natsu takes the opportunity to stick his tongue in. He savours her taste as she does his. It's as good as Lucy had ever imagined it to be.

Natsu trails kisses along her jaw before moving down and kissing her neck again. Lucy takes a sharp intake of breath. Her hands reach out for his head and play with his hair. She moves her chin up for better access. Natsu's hand that was in Lucy's hair moves down and begins to pull up her shirt.

Suddenly an image enters Lucy's mind. An image hidden so deep inside of her she almost forgot it was there. But it was. And it could never be forgotten.

"No!" With surprising force Lucy pushes Natsu away. Natsu, shocked from the sudden response, falls back off the bed. He rubs his head and gets up. Lucy is already scrambling for her blanket, using the majority of it for coverage. She's trying to hide, trying to disappear.

"Sorry about that Lucy, I guess I shouldn't have pulled a move..." Natsu says apologetically. He moves to enter the bed once more but Lucy screams and shakes her head. Natsu's head jerks up in surprise. "What is it, Lucy?"

"Get out!" Lucy screams in a shrill voice. She sounds so horrified, so scared.

Natsu feels his stomach drop. Had he caused her to feel this way? Had he been too fast? Should he have waited? Or treated her better? He should have started it off with something a lot more romantic. She would have liked that.

Natsu slowly approaches Lucy. "Look, Lucy, I made a mistake, please forgive me."

"That's what you always say! You're not sorry at all!" Lucy screams, tears streaming down her face. She's no longer seeing Natsu. She's seeing something different. Someone else.

"What I always say? What are you talking about?" Natsu asks in a hurt tone. "Lucy! It's me! Natsu! Have you gone insane?"

"Get out!" Lucy shrieks. She continues to repeat it with tears streaming down her eyes. "Get away from me!"

Natsu grabs Lucy by her wrists and envelopes her in a hug. Lucy screams at the top of her lungs, punching with her little fists at Natsu's chest. Natsu smooths out her hair with one hand, the other on her back. He whispers a "Shhh" into her ear as she continues to scream and cry.

Feeling so completely helpless, Lucy's body racks in sobs. Natsu feels like punching himself in the face. Why the hell had he pulled a move so fast? But... This is a bit extreme, isn't it? It's not like Natsu had intended to hurt her. That would be the last thing he would ever want to do to her. Why was she acting so strange?

Lucy tries to speak through her tears but it won't come out. To her, she was going through a delusion. She was back to a memory she never thought she'd ever have to face again. The one thing that has haunted her for so damn long. It's back now. Slowly Lucy begins to regain awareness of the situation around her.

"N-Natsu..." Lucy says in between sobs. She tries to push him away but he doesn't budge. "C-Can't b-breathe..."

Natsu immediately moves to give her air. Feeling very wary, Natsu backs up and moves all the way to the other end of the bed. Lucy's sobs start to die down. When they do end up stopping, Natsu breaks the silence. "Why?"

"Why?" Lucy repeats.

"I know making a move was a bad move. It was too fast, and I'm really sorry. But why did you have to go so overboard?" Natsu asks gently. His voice is shaking. "I was so scared, you were crying so hard and I didn't know why you were screaming so loud..."

Lucy begins to cry again. She covers her face with the blankets and can't speak. She doesn't want to speak. She can't say it. Speaking about it is worse than actually living in that moment, because it means you remember. And you'll always remember. It's something that stay with you until death.

"N-Natsu..." Lucy says in between her sobs. She feels so pathetic. He probably thinks she's insane, which she most likely is, but it's not something she can control. How will she ever look at Natsu the same? How will he look at her now? It feels exactly like when he walked in on her cutting.

She's totally ruined her chances. Natsu will think she's a freak. He'll never touch her again. He'll never come near her again. He's just going to say "Fuck it, she's too damn messed up." Because she is. She's messed up. She's been through messed up things that no one should. Natsu could never understand.

And yet she feels a comforting hand on her back. He's still waiting for an answer. So the question is, will Lucy tell the truth? Well, there's no getting out of Natsu's hands so she has to say it. No matter how much she despises it and doesn't want to. Natsu deserves an explanation. Especially now that their dating. Somewhat, anyway.

"Natsu, I'm so sorry..." Lucy says with a shaky voice. It cracks mid-sentence. "I'm too messed up... I shouldn't have brought you into any of this... I'm so sorry, I really am..."

Natsu shakes his head. "I didn't ask you if you were sorry. I asked you why you were acting like that."

"I-I-" Lucy can't bring herself to say it. In a small voice she says, "I-I can't say it..."

Natsu lets out a frustrated breath. "Lucy, I need to know what's going on so tell me right now before I find out by myself. And you're not going to like it when I do."

Lucy wraps her arms around Natsu and buries her head in between his shoulder and neck. Clenching Natsu's scarf in her hands, she whispers it as silently as possible, but since it is night, any noise can be heard quite clearly.

"I was raped by my father."

* * *

**A/N:** _WHOA WAS THAT A BOMB OR WHAT._

_So, uhm, I've never been raped but I'm gonna try my hardest to get the emotions in as best as I can. Tell me if I do something wrong, alright? I want this to be accurate and relatable, not some bullshit served on a platter. And I really hope I don't sound insensitive by using this topic that I virtually don't have too much information on. I promise to do some more research._

_What is that, the third time I've teased you guys? Haha! Well this one got really close. And their first kiss! How was it...? *biting nails*_

_And woo! 200 followers! Thanks guys! It means a lot. :D_


	15. The Error in Our Ways

Hatred. That's all Natsu feels when he thinks of Lucy's father. All of those times he's made her cry, all those times he put her through hardships she shouldn't have had to face. And now this. Rape?! That's outrageous. Hell, Natsu wants to bring the man back to life just so he could be the one to tear his head off. How could someone do such a thing to someone as wonderful as Lucy?

Lucy doesn't know what to think. She doesn't know what Natsu is thinking. He had pulled away and moved emotionlessly. Lucy could tell he was in deep thought but had no clue what he could be thinking about. She shouldn't have said anything. Why the hell had she acted out like that? If it wasn't so dramatic, Lucy could have passed it off as not ready for intimacy.

"How did it happen?" Natsu asks in a stiff voice. It's the night he found out about her cutting all over again. Tie same feelings of anger, confusion, frustration, failure, disappointment and so on. Only, Natsu isn't feeling any bad feelings towards Lucy. Only the sick man who laid his hands on his precious Lucy.

"I-I don't want to talk about it..." Lucy replies. Here comes the fear once more. She's scared of Natsu's reaction again. He wasn't supposed to know about this secret either. This one she was sure she'd be able to take to the grave. Never had she thought she would blurt it out during a moment of intimacy.

Natsu turns to her sharply and grips her arms tightly in his hands. In a pleading voice he says, "I need to know. Tell me."

"I-I can't!" Lucy says, shutting her eyes and looking away. The last thing she wanted was to see the same shocked and angry face she saw only a couple of days ago. She hears Natsu exhale loudly and loosen his grip.

Natsu pulls away and gets back into his previous position. His hands clench into fists as he says through clenched teeth, "I'm sorry but I'm not dropping this until you tell me. And neither are you."

"Please just let it go." Lucy says, feeling her throat clamp up. "It's difficult to talk about. I don't want to remember it."

"But you do remember it! That's the problem! It's etched into your memory and you'll never be able to let it go!" Natsu says. He stands from the bed and begins to pace back and forth. He opens his mouth to speak but shuts it immediately, then opens it again. "I want to help you. I want to be here for you. I want to erase that memory for you. And I can't do that if you aren't willing to let me."

Lucy crawls underneath the blankets. She has to hide her face from the shame that was plastered over it. There is no getting out of it. "It was after my mom passed..."

Natsu stops pacing. He sits on Lucy's side of the bed and pulls the covers down to see her face. She uses her hands now to cover her face. Natsu lightly runs the back of his fingers down her arm, urging her to continue. With a deep breath Lucy does. "I couldn't understand why all of a sudden he wanted me to sit in his lap again...

"He would give me new dresses, shorter ones. He said it was because of the hot weather. Sometimes he would walk in on the maids changing me and would just stay and watch. He started touching me more. Like patting me on the back, holding my hand while we walked, placing his hand on my thigh, etc. It wasn't necessarily anything bad, just a fatherly touch, but somehow it still felt wrong.

Then one day he told me to come to his room.

"I thought, you know, 'oh, daddy wants to have a sleepover!' because I didn't know what to expect. Then it just... _happened._" Lucy shudders at the memory. The tears flowing down her face, the confusion, the pain... All of her screams that went unheard. Or maybe they were heard. Maybe the bastards didn't have the balls to save her.

Natsu's face is filled with rage. He's completely red and is clenching the blankets in a death grip. His head hangs low with his is hair covering his face, just as he had done a couple of days ago. Lucy sighed and wiped away her tears. Her face was soaked.

"I think," Lucy's voice shakes as she speaks. "Because I was so little... He thought maybe I'd forget. He kept whispering he loves me and that everything was alright, that I was okay... He said it was okay to be doing that, that it was normal. I knew it wasn't. I was so disgusted. In him, in myself, and all the other sick people in the world.

"He did it again a week later. He kept asking me to come to his room almost every week. The nights he didn't I would crawl in a ball in my bed and cry. He kept saying he was sorry, but no matter what I couldn't forgive him. I thought it might have been because I look so much like my mother, and that was his way of coping with her death-"

Natsu punches the wall in a swift motion. Lucy flinches just as she had last time he had done that. Natsu is steaming as he nearly shouts with full hatred, "That's not how you cope with someone's death! You don't rape a _child_ who resembles them!"

Lucy ignores him and continues. "S-Sometimes he brought others... Because they were some rich people he could make business-"

Natsu's jaw nearly snaps from clenching it so tight. "There was more than one bastard? That son of a motherfucking bitch-"

"Natsu!" Lucy cuts him off. "I know what he did was wrong, the worst possible thing he could have ever done to me, but he's still my dad!"

"I'm sorry but I can't respect that piece of shit as a person. I don't care if he's dead now. I want to kill him." Natsu says, nearly breathing out fire. His body is literally reaching scolding heat. The look in his eyes are worse than anything Lucy had seen before.

"Natsu! Listen! He stopped! He finally stopped!" Lucy says and reaches out for Natsu's arm. She lets go as if she's been burned. But she doesn't stop speaking. "He treated me like a princess after... It was finally over! But I ended up running away anyway. I just couldn't stand the house anymore. It constantly reminded me of my mother's death and the awful nights spent crying and screaming... And after everything else... He really loved me Natsu."

"No. That's not my definition of love!" Natsu argues. "I can't imagine how sick a person must be to do such a disgusting thing to his own daughter!"

Lucy reaches out and grabs onto Natsu's arm. This time she doesn't pull away. The contact calms Natsu down a little and he begins to see straight. He touches Lucy's soaked face and rubs her cheek with his thumb. Tears of his own are piling in his eyes. Lucy... She had to go through something like this... How was she so brave? So strong? Everything she's been through she was alone and still she could smile and keep everyone else happy.

Everything is still processing in Natsu's head. "It sickens me."

Lucy's heart drops when she hears him say those words. It feels like he stabbed her. Then he leans down so his forehead is touching hers. "It sickens me to know he's seen your body. That he's laid his filthy hands on you. That his nasty lips have touched you in areas it shouldn't. That he brought others to- _share_ you. That he took away your innocence without even loving you. Not in the way that I do."

"Natsu-" She doesn't even have enough time to respond or even process his words as he captures her lips in his. His lips are soft and sad. The kiss is brief, like he doesn't have the energy to continue. Or maybe he just doesn't want to push it. Either way Lucy's thankful.

Natsu crawls under the covers next to her. He wraps his arms around her protectively. He gives her another quick peck before saying, "I'm here now. I'm sorry I wasn't before, but I'm here to protect you now. No one will ever touch you again. I will kill anyone who even has the slightest thought of it."

Lucy smiles at Natsu appreciatively. She crawls closer and wraps her own arms around him. "Thank you, Natsu. I don't know what I would be able to do without you..."

"Lucy, I love you." Natsu says whole-heartedly. His grip tightens around her. These words he's never said before feel strange. "And I'm gonna show you what being loved feels like from now on."

The tears falling from Lucy's eyes are soaking Natsu's neck but he doesn't care. Natsu just holds her shaking body, comfortingly rubbing her hair. She cries more tears, a mixture of pain and happiness. She doesn't repeat the words, because she can't speak, but he knows how she feels.

It was just so frustrating. For both of them. Lucy has been through so much. She was all alone with no one next to her. She's been scarred too many times. She can't go back in time to get rid of them but if she could she would do it in a heartbeat. All of the nights she's spent crying on her own... It was nearly every night. She's living in a nightmare all the time.

For Natsu he just wanted an end to Lucy's pain and tears. He feels as if he's failed her by letting her feel so much pain on her own. He can't stand the thought of Lucy depressed and to know she was, made him feel sick. Not in a disgusted way, but in a way where he felt sick with himself.

Even through all of this Natsu has to stay strong for Lucy. And Lucy has to get better for Natsu. There is no "getting over" everything, it's a matter of facing the situations head on and dealing with them. Like they just had.

They say time heals all wounds. How long will it take Lucy? How many more nights of tears and pain will it take before it's finally okay? How long will it take others to heal? Others who don't have a Natsu or Laxus? Will they just continue crying alone or will they find someone too? Will they ever find something to live for?

There are people who don't. That's why they pull suicide. When they're at their lowest and no one is reaching out a hand to save them... It just hurts to think about it.

Lucy's lucky to have Natsu and the guild. Not just the guild though, friends like Yuna, Éclair and even Elie. She has plenty of people to support her. Even Mira, when she felt like she had no one, fell into a darkness that almost consumed her again. People like them live in a world unlike any other. One filled with death, darkness, hatred, blood, and everything else bad.

But not everything is bad. There is good within bad. And there is bad within good.

With these confusing thoughts Lucy drift off to sleep. Even dreaming a nightmare is better than living in her own. But in Natsu's arms she feels like she's protected from her inner demons. It's finally _okay._ And not the sarcastic kind.

She had someone reach out to save her. _She's okay._

* * *

**A/N:**_ I hope that made sense... I brought the story back to a dark plot. And btw, I really enjoyed watching all of you freaking out! Haha. Thanks for all the reviews!_

_The topics of rape is such a serious topic that I apologize immensely if I portrayed it in a wrong/false way. _

_Reviews would be greatly appreciated for this particular chapter. :)_


	16. Home Is Where the Heart Is

Natsu's arms are very comfortable. Lucy declares. Even though she's been awake now for what feels like five minutes, she doesn't move. Natsu's steady breathing is also comforting. His whole existence is comforting. There's absolutely no one else Lucy would rather be with right now. No one else could ever make her feel as safe as Natsu does. No one else could love her like Natsu does.

Lucy can feel the said man stir. A low groan escapes his lips as he awakes. He peeks down to see if Lucy's awake. When his dark orbs land on Lucy's light brown ones, a smile tugs as his lips. He leans down and plants a sweet kiss on her, causing her to blush so early in the morning. When he pulls away, his forehead is touching hers. "How long have you been awake?"

"Not too long." Lucy says in a soft voice, almost a whisper. She buries her face in Natsu's neck, just out of plain curiosity. That's definitely another comforting part of him. As much as Lucy would like to stay in that position, she reluctantly pulls away. "We should probably head back to the guild, let everyone know we're back."

Natsu lets out a groan of protest. "It's too early for that. Can't we just stay in bed all day?"

"Natsu, it looks like it's noon." Lucy argues. She sees the sunny high in the sky and can hear chatter outside her window as people get along with their day. Considering these two were up pretty late talking, they definitely slept in. "People are going to start wondering where we are. We didn't even go on a very difficult mission."

No movement occurs from the pink headed boy. Lucy shakes her head and rises from the bed, heading to her closet to fetch a change of clothes. When she does, she enters her bathroom to shower and brush her teeth. As she runs her body under the scolding hot water, she thinks of the boy just outside the door. A blush creeps up her cheeks and she decides it's time to exit the shower.

Even though her shower wasn't as long as she wanted it to be, she still ended up taking an hour in the bathroom, including brushing her teeth, getting dressed and brushing her hair. Lucy exits the bathroom to find Natsu sitting upright in the bed, barely keeping his eyes open. On her night stand is a nice little breakfast placed out for her. Pancakes and orange juice.

"Well, isn't this a very western breakfast?" Lucy says with a pleased grin. She digs into the pancakes in delight. It tastes just like the strawberry pancakes they had made together a couple days ago. Only there were no strawberries. And were those chocolate chips she was tasting? Lucy claps her hands in delight.

"Cowboys eat pancakes?" Natsu asks. Lucy rolls her eyes. She continues to munch away on the pancakes, offering some to Natsu. "No, thanks. I already ate some while I waited. And don't get mad but there's kind of a mess downstairs that I didn't know how to clean up without making a bigger mess so... Sorry?"

Lucy rolls her eyes once more. Typical. She would have been angry, if not for the sweet gesture of him trying. And he really did do a good job on these pancakes. "Thanks, Natsu. Maybe later we can make cookies, seeing as there's a mess anyway."

"Really?" Natsu asks eagerly.

Lucy nods her head, her full attention on the pancakes now. Natsu takes this time to go brush his teeth with his spare tooth brush in her bathroom. The guy is there so much that Lucy forced him to bring along a toothbrush and leave it there. Thank goodness he did.

It's surprising to find out how good of a cook Natsu is. Lucy would have thought he had just taken a pancake mixture and added chocolate chips, if it weren't for the fact that she didn't own any pancake mixtures. She was more of a scratch kind of girl. And that orange juice definitely complimented the pancakes.

"Next time you wake me up, can you wake me up after you've showered and brushed your teeth?" Natsu requests, coming out of the bathroom. A yawn escapes his mouth. "I had to wait for forever. And I even made pancakes and you weren't done."

"I could have taken longer, you know." Lucy says hotly. She flips her hair but feels the slight anger in her disperse. "But thanks for the breakfast, it was really good. Something I could get used to."

This boasts Natsu's confidence. Not that it needed any more boasting. Lucy nearly laughs when she sees the look on his face. He's totally going to brag about his cooking skills to Gray when they get to the guild. Oh, yeah, the guild! Lucy stands and grabs for her keys that lay next to her pillow. "Hey, we should probably go now."

"Alright." Natsu and Lucy head out of the apartment. As they pass the kitchen Lucy winces as the sight and tries her best to ignore it, telling herself they'll be back to clean it later. She locks up behind them, but this causes Natsu to snicker. "You're gonna need a new lock. Last night I got into your house by kicking your door open."

Lucy grins and tugs at his arm, pulling him behind her as she makes her way to the guild. "Why would I need a lock when I have you?"

"Hah," Natsu says with a grin. "Good one."

The two walk in silence after that. After a while Lucy feels Natsu's hand take hers in his. She looks up at his smiling face and can't help feeling her heart skip a beat. If this is what Natsu means by showing her what being loved felt like, then she can only hope Natsu will never stop loving her.

"Well look at the new happy couple!" Gray announces as soon as the two walk into the guild. Having been so deep in thought, Lucy didn't notice they had arrived. Gray comes in between them and wraps an around around both their shoulders. "Where have the two of you been? I was starting to get worried Natsu got lost and Lucy had a hard time trying to find the idiot."

"Shut up Frosty, you would have had a hard time too, finding some girl in that thick ass fog." Natsu retorts.

"Yeah right! In your dreams Peppermint. I would have gotten that mission done in one day, not three." Gray argues. Lucy feels her heart warm. Gray counted the days. Natsu doesn't seem to notice the kind gesture.

The two bud heads and get at it. Lucy moves to get out of the way but realizes Natsu is still holding her hand. With a little tug, she pulls her hand free and heads to the girls' table with a wide grin on her face. The smile is returned by the girls, who had watched her walk in with the fire dragon.

"Lucy, congratulations." Erza says proudly, her arms crossed in front of her. "I see you and Natsu have finally become more than team mates."

"Yeah, thanks." Lucy says with a slight blush. Levy and Lisanna throw themselves onto Lucy in tight hugs. Mira is cheering from beside Erza. Cana hands Lucy a mug of beer, gives her a little cheers and downs her mug. The rest of the girls continue to congratulate her as well. Lucy takes a look over her shoulder. She sighs at the scene. Maybe this is the boys' way of congratulating, by getting into a brawl.

"So how was the job?" Mira asks once all the congratulating is over. "It must have been pretty difficult for you guys to be gone for so long."

"Actually it wasn't hard at all." Lucy says. The memories bring a smile on her lips. "We made friends with the girl we were trying to find. Her name was Yuna. She had purposefully ran away because she wanted to go to Crocus to become an actress. So we promised that if she asked her parents to let her go with their will, we'd escort her. And that's what she did."

"She sounds nice." Wendy says. The others nod their heads in agreement.

Lucy grins wider in her memory. "She was. And she was so pretty too! I kind of wish she could have come here so I could introduce her to all of you. But I'm glad she's where she wants to be now."

"Anyway, Lucy, I was hoping you, Gray, Natsu, Happy and I could go on a job now that you and Natsu are back." Erza says. "I found a job that wants us to beat some bandits to a pulp. Says something like they've been causing a lot of damage to this convenience store in Oak Town. Are you interested?"

"Yeah sure. I still need to fork up some more money for the rent." Lucy says with a sigh. "I was hoping to get a little rest but I guess I could use a little fun with the team again."

Erza's face brightens up. "Great! I'll go announce this to Natsu and Gray."

"I'll go send a message to the requester that your team has accepted the offer." Mira says. She retreats to the bar to find something to write with. Lucy decides to follow her. "Oh, Lucy, is there something on your mind?"

Lucy scratches her head. "Well... Sort of. Has Laxus ever tried to show you what being loved felt like?"

Mira giggles at the silly question. "He doesn't have to show me, Lucy. I already know he does. Why would you ask such a thing?"

"Well, Natsu-" Lucy shakes her head, deciding it's not worth bringing up. She decides to change the subject. "Oh, nevermind. I was just wondering. I'm still intrigued with the two of you's relationship. Where is he, by the way?"

Mira sighs. "He's on another one of those S-Class missions. He won't be back for at least a month."

Lucy feels a frown form on her face. "Oh, I'm sorry. I really hope you won't feel lonely with him gone. And with Erza going on a job with the team."

"I'll be fine, don't worry. I'm getting better at it." Mira says with a wink. "Besides, it's actually kind of nice having days to myself. I can meet with my siblings or even get a conversation going with other guild members. Like the other day, I found out Cana is actually a softy when it comes to girly movies."

Letting out a surprised laugh, Lucy falls off her chair, causing her to laugh some more. This causes the take-over mage to laugh as well. Lucy gasps between her laugh. "Who the heck falls out of their chair?"

Mira giggles into her hand. "Apparently Lucy Heartfilia does."

Lucy gets up, feeling a bit embarrassed. She makes sure no one saw her little incident. "How about we don't speak of that moment again?"

"No promises." Mira says mischievously, retreating to the kitchen before Lucy can object. Lucy can faintly hear Mira say, "Hey, Kinana, guess what just happened?"

With a roll of her eyes Lucy decides to let it go just this once. But next time- Wait. Lucy can't do anything against Mira! Well that's a disappointment. Although, she has to admit it was a funny accident. Just then she hears Kinana and Mira's laughter and feels her face turn red. Great.

Instead of a romantic baking session with Natsu, she had to watch Gray and Natsu challenge one another to a bake off in her kitchen. The only reason she stuck around was so she made sure they didn't throw knives at one another. And ruin her kitchen. Her first fear was in case a fire started, but Natsu could just take care of that. Somehow, she doesn't quite understand how this particular competition confirms their manliness.

Happy on the other hand enjoyed eating their cookie dough when they weren't looking. Erza had disappeared to take a bath. Lucy didn't understand why they were all in her house in the first place, but it felt a lot less lonely having them around. It felt like a little family.

A timer goes off and the two males swing the oven door open and grab their tray of cookies. They shove the cookie tins in Lucy's face. The two males speak in unison, "Done! Which one do you like better, Lucy? Huh? Huh?"

"Kya!" Lucy shrieks, ducking out of the way. "First off, close the oven door and turn it off!"

Natsu kicks the door closed and Gray pushes the off button. They both turn to Lucy eagerly. Lucy takes a look at the finished products. Natsu's looks like little cookie balls. Gray's look a little too thin. Lucy takes a bite out of both. Although secretly she was rooting for Natsu, she had to give her honest opinion.

"These both suck. Natsu, yours is raw in the middle! And Gray, yours is too thin! It's too crispy and crunchy! It's almost burnt!" Lucy says. Both of the boys' shoulders slump in disappointment. Lucy feels bad, knowing how hard they tried. They would have been a lot better if the boys were more focused on the actually cookies rather than insulting one another the whole time they were cooking. "Sorry guys, maybe next time."

"At least I'm a better cook at pancakes!" Natsu boasts.

"Yeah right! My chocolate chip banana pancakes are to die for!" Gray argues.

"You wanna test that out, Ice Cappuccino?"

"You're on, Hot Chocolate!"

Lucy facepalms herself. What kind of ridiculous nicknames have they come to? Have they literally gone through everything in the book! And so she sits back and watches them have a round two in their little cook off. She can't help but smile. This is home.

* * *

**A/N:** _Gosh Natsu, you make even me blush ;)_

_To the Guest who reviewed, thank you so much. I know there are a lot of different paths people take. I think from how I've written so far, I'd make her a little desperate for love. After she's been used in such a terrible way, she would feel as if she can't have love in her life but she wants it so bad. That's the way her story would seem anyway. She just wants to have someone hold her and tell her it's okay even if it isn't. I don't know if it's very good to write her in that way but I'm just going with instinct. Thank you so much for taking the time to write such an amazing review. I hope whatever happens in the story you can support it. :)_


	17. Accomplished

"No way. No _damn_ way." Gray says adamantly. He backs up a great distance from his team. "There is absolutely no damn way in hell that I'm cross dressing!"

"Oh, come on Gray!" Lucy whines with a little pout. She's sticking out a blue dress at the ice-make mage. "It's a simple seduction plan and it won't work with only two females! Plus, Natsu doesn't seem too bothered by it."

Gray looks over at the fire dragon slayer. He's dressed in a red dress similar to the blue one Lucy is practically sticking in his face. Natsu is messing around with a pink wig but seems to be having trouble, constantly readjusting. Gray grimaces. Must be itchy. Gray pushes the dress out of his face, saying harshly, "That's because Natsu's gay."

"I'd beg to differ." Lucy says in defense. "Now put it on before Erza comes back and sees you still dressed in your regular clothes!"

With a sigh, Gray takes the dress and begins to undress. Lucy shrieks and covers her eyes. "Not right in front of me!"

Suddenly Natsu is standing before her, an angry snarl on his face. "Trying to hit on my girl, pervert?"

"Since when did it become such a big deal of me changing?" Gray spits back, equally as defensive. "And at least I'm not willingly playing dress up! Next thing you know you're going to have make up on your face!"

"That's not quite a bad idea." Erza says, entering the room. All mouths hang open at the sight of her extravagant flaming red dress. The dress shows a generous amount of cleavage and has a slit on the side to reveal her long leg. Her hair is pinned up in a messy yet perfect up-do. She looked hot. "The make-up will help with the whole feminine image! It's a perfect idea Gray."

Gray face palms himself. He immediately excuses himself to go change in piece. Lucy feels a bit of sympathy for the boys. "Hey, Gray..."

Thinking she would say some words of encouragement, Gray looks back. He was hoping for her to say she wouldn't have to go through with the mission but instead he groans and continues to excuse himself all the while cursing under his breath when she says, "Your wig is waiting for you in the corner."

"Nice, Lucy!" Natsu praises, giving her a high-five. Lucy smiles but can't help but laugh at Natsu. She's gotta admit, he makes a pretty woman. He could totally pass as one. But, on the other hand, she was majorly creeped out.

And hour letter, Lucy feels a little down. Natsu is practicing his girl voice with Happy, and Erza is applying more red lipstick. Even Gray was looking prettier than her. How the heck was someone like Lucy going to be able to go through with this seduction plan?

If Lucy didn't know any better, she'd think Gray was admiring himself in the mirror. The moment he sees Lucy staring at him he awkwardly walks away from the mirror. "Heh, I'm just making sure there isn't anything out of place or anything."

Yeah, sure.

"Here," Lucy looks up to see Erza handing her a tube of Mascara. She has a radiant smile on her lips. Erza truly is drop dead gorgeous, along with Mira. And if Gray and Natsu were born women, they too would be gorgeous. Erza waves the tube in front of Lucy's face, catching her attention. "Trust me, this will make your eyes stand out. And a little gloss won't hurt you, alright?"

Lucy allows Erza to give her a make-over. But only because she was in no position to deny the scarlet haired mage. And, she hated to admit it, but she looked, well, decent. Lucy gives Erza a grateful smile before heading towards Natsu and Happy. "Well? How do I look?"

Natsu normally wouldn't care very much but he had to admit she definitely looked extra special. He gives her a wide grin. "You look really pretty."

Even at such a small thing, Lucy blushes. She didn't expect him to be repulsed, and she didn't expect him to think of her as beautiful. So it warms her heart to know he thinks she looks pretty, because that's just how much she wanted.

"It's dark enough outside, let's go." Erza orders, opening the door of their little motel room.

The plan was to walk the streets all fancy and dolled up, as if they were attending a party. They must act ditsy and vulnerable enough to lure in the prey, which would be the bandits, then beat their asses and leave. That's what the old fart who requested their services planned anyway. Although, no one really seemed to mind other than Gray.

The group walk down an empty alleyway, all giggles and fake blushes. Lucy pulls the over dramatic, "I wonder if _he'll_ be there!" comment that Erza gives an excited squeal to. In Natsu's opinion, Erza enjoyed this a little too much.

"Looky, looky, what we've got here!" A very high-pitched voice says. The voice is followed by a perverted voice that sounds like it's from an old man. "A couple of little girls? Wandering in a side of town they shouldn't be?"

Lucy shivers and nearly gags. Natsu's hand subtly touches her middle back. He says in a well trained female voice, "Who goes there?"

The two men jump down from the roof of a house. A couple other footsteps can be heard, as two new bandits come from the other side of the alley, blocking their path. The one who had the high-pitched voice is a short man with a dirty beard and an even dirtier smile. "Come, now, we just wanna have some fun."

The man who's voice sounded like an old man's actually came from a man not too old at all, probably in his thirties. He too has the same sick smile. "Come on, there's four of you, and four of us. How about we have a good time?"

Lucy shrieks when a hand from behind pulls her away from the group. One of the new guys, one that doesn't seem too old at all, maybe in his early twenties, had pulled her away. "I call this blonde one."

The other new guy, one a little too old, in his fifties maybe, says, "But I want her!"

Lucy feels puke at the back of her throat. With a low and dangerous voice, Natsu begins to threaten, "Don't fucking touch-" When he realizes his voice is deep and manly, he quickly clears his throat and speaks in his female voice. "Please, let our friend go!"

"My, my, none of this could be good for my baby," Gray says, rubbing his stomach. Everyone's jaw drops at his remark. Gray only pouts in mock sadness. "You wouldn't do anything to hurt a pregnant woman, would you?"

He even goes as far as batting his eyelashes. Okay, the vomit is really getting to Lucy. With a glare to silence Gray, Erza speaks up. "Well if all of you want to play so badly, how about we head back to our motel room? I promise you, we'll have plenty of fun."

"That sounds ravishing. What do you say boys?" The short man asks his fellow companions, who all smirk and agree. The man holding Lucy lets her go. As soon as she's set free, she links arms with Natsu and the two give a little giggle to one another for show, pretending to be excited.

The young man calls out to the two. "Oi! By any chance, are you two in some sort of lesbian relationship?"

Natsu glares at the guy. "So what if we are?"

This leaves the boy in shock and no other words are spoken as they head back to the motel. As the large group stand outside the motel room's door, Erza says, "Oh, silly me. I forgot my keys! Lucy, could you please do the honors?"

Lucy nods and takes out her keys. As she approaches the door, she hears Erza whisper a 'now'. Lucy turns towards the bandits and calls of, "Gate of the Maid! Virgo!"

"Princess!" The celestial spirit calls in service. As soon as she appears, Natsu slams the heads of the old man and the short guy together. Gray freezes the younger guy and Erza has the man in his thirties up against the wall, at mercy of her swords.

After a few minutes the bandits are all tied up and thrown together on a pile. "How did you know to call Virgo?" Erza asks Lucy.

Lucy points to the rope that ties the bandits up. "I knew she'd have some sort of thing like this. I thought maybe it would be handcuffs but I guess she likes ropes better."

"And _why_ does she have rope with her?" Gray questions.

Lucy shrugs. With a smirk she says, "She's waiting for punishment."

Gray's face turns as red as Erza's dress as he looks away. Natsu grins and wraps an around around Lucy. "Good job, Lucy! You got the bad guys!"

Lucy smiles and feels a bit proud. Even Happy is praising her. So Lucy plays with the little blue cat while Gray and Erza head to go find the requester. Natsu takes a seat next to Lucy. She's throwing Happy in the air and catching him again. Although Happy has wings and can fly, he still found it fun.

"Oi... Lucy?" Happy suddenly says in a hushed tone.

Lucy stops throwing him. "Why, are you sick?"

"No..." Happy's hanging his head. He solemnly moves over to Natsu. "I... I-I'm sorry for everything... For telling you you're heavy all the time... I really didn't mean to hurt you so bad... I'm really really really really sorry. Really really-"

"It's okay, Happy!" Lucy says with a smile, snatching Happy away from Natsu and into a hug. Normally Happy would make a joke out of this but he was feeling too sad. So he hugged Lucy back. "It was never_ you_ who made me do the things I did. A bunch of things just piled up on one another."

Natsu watches the scene with a grin on his face. There's a warmth in his heart as he watched Lucy comfort an almost crying Happy. Erza and Gray arrive with the little old man from the convenience store who requested their assistance. He thanks the team and calls for the police. Erza accepts the reward and the team feel successful as the turn their backs on the scene.

When suddenly one of the bandits calls out, "Can't wait to see you again!"

Lucy shudders. Natsu places a protective arm around her. "Don't listen to that bastard. I'll beat him to a pulp if we see him again."

"Here's your portion." Erza says, distributing the 60,000 jewels. She hands 15,000 to Natsu, Lucy, then to Gray. "And I get the last."

"Hey, when we get back, do you guys think we could go on another mission?" Lucy requests. "I still need 30,000 more Jewels for this months rent."

Gray thinks about it. "Okay, but give me a day or so to relax."

"You mean to meet up with Juvia?" Erza teases. Gray promptly denies, although the colour of his cheeks give him away. "I'm just teasing Gray."

"I'm all for it!" Natsu cheers with Happy. Lucy claps her hands excitedly. Natsu ruffles her hair. "Maybe next time you'll show all of us up again? I can't let that happen."

"Why? Scared I'll out rank you?" Lucy says jokingly. Gray joins in on the argument while Erza shakes her head. Although, if she were not an S-Class mage, she would take part of the same conversation. Her teammates definitely do have the potential to be S-Class. Perhaps even surpass her. But looking back at the dragon slayer and ice-make mage, it'll take them a while.

Lucy has great potential too. If only she had more confidence to show her true abilities. Maybe in time she will. And when she does, she may be able to meet eye-to-eye with Erza. Erza snickers, that would be fun. Thoughts of an equal brawl with Lucy enter her brain. That would be an exciting match.

"Erza?" Lucy says, tapping the older mage on the shoulder. "You okay? What are you thinking of?"

Erza smiles back. "I'm just excited for the future. That's all."

A future brighter than the present. Lucy also feels the same way.

* * *

**A/N:** _Creepy men, I know. This chapter is more like a filler so I hope you enjoy it! :) Because the next one will be worth your while... ;)_

_I have a plot in my head I'm excited for you guys to read! Eep! Anticipate it! Reviews are always nice! ;) ;)_


	18. Loved

As soon as they get back to Magnolia, Lucy and Natsu head to her apartment. Considering the late hours, Erza said she'll head to the guild and the rest can head back home. She was also going to grab another job request. Feeling grateful, Lucy could only think of the hot bath she wanted to take.

Lucy doesn't even turn any lights on in her apartment, she heads straight to the bath. Natsu can shut the door behind him anyway. Lucy runs the steaming hot water and flings her clothes off as fast as humanly possible. Not even waiting for the water to completely finish, she jumps in. Immediate relief consumes her. She exhales deeply. Damn it felt good.

She lets the hot water relax her tense muscles. Lucy can feel a little urge to cut. Her razors are only a few feet away. Lucy shakes her head to get rid of those thoughts. The urge was not as strong as it used to be. Sure it's been a while since her last cut, around a week or so, but the voices are already dying.

She pulls out her razor anyway. She decides to shave, since she hadn't done so in a while. She feels a lot more fresh without the annoying little blonde hairs on her legs. She lays back in the water and feels her smooth legs. It's a habit, she just loves the feeling of her freshly shaven legs a lot.

As soon as she's done shaving she places her razor away, not wanting to have the blades in her sight. It actually took quite a bit of effort to not move the razor horizontally instead of veritacally. With the stress of her past being brought up again, a part of her wished release but she knew deeper down that she couldn't. She _wouldn't_.

When Lucy's finally become tired of her bath and the water isn't as hot, she gets out and wraps a towel around her head. Another around her hair. She opens the bathroom door and remembers Natsu was still in her apartment. Possibly raiding her fridge. Not know why she wanted to do this, she headed downstairs. Sure enough, Natsu's got his head in the fridge.

"Natsu, what are you doing?" Lucy asks nonchalantly, although she feels a little nervous. Natsu closes the door to the fridge and looks over his shoulder. He raises a brow. Lucy takes a couple of steps forward. "Does seeing me like this make you feel uncomfortable?"

"I've seen you naked before, Lucy," Natsu says casually. "This doesn't quite faze me."

"Oh?" Lucy teases playfully. She closes the distance between the two. Her mind is swirling and her heart is pounding. Sure she's been naked around him before, but not like this. She doesn't know why she's doing it (and by it, she means _seduce_), but a bigger part of her just wanted to keep going with it. "This doesn't faze you at all?"

Lucy lightly brushes her body on Natsu's. Natsu doesn't reply, only reaches out to pull the towel on her head off. Lucy's damp hair cascades onto her back, and a few beads of water run down her neck. Natsu leans down and licks the water off. He licks from her collarbone all the way up to her ear. Lucy's fingers find their way to his hair, and she lets out a soft gasp.

Natsu moves so his lips are nearly touching Lucy's. "Seems like this fazes you a lot more than it does me, huh?"

"Shut up," Lucy says softly. She closes the distance between their lips. Her hands move from his hair down his shoulders and biceps. She'd always wanted to know what they felt like in this situation. Natsu turns them so he can pin her against the fridge. He clutches the annoying towel in his hand but doesn't pull it off her just yet.

On the other hand Lucy is trying to take Natsu's scarf off. Natsu pulls away with a smirk. "If you want me to take off my clothes, just go ahead and ask."

"Take off your clothes." Lucy orders, crashing her lips back onto Natsu's. Natsu smirks a little, feeling amused. He takes off her scarf and waistcoat.

Lucy's hands continue to roam around his body, feeling his muscles. She hadn't necessarily wanted to lead this to something more but she can't deny that she was hoping it would. Her hands reach for his belt. As she tries to unbuckle it she pulls away breathlessly, whispering, "Bedroom."

Natsu easily lifts Lucy into his arms and makes his way upstairs. Her towel was coming undone, and if Natsu pushed her away just a little, the towel would give way and Lucy would be exposed. As soon as he enters the room he throws Lucy on the bed, causing the towel to officially come off.

Lucy first instinct is to cover herself, but Natsu had already took in everything. She was beautiful. She's not heavy or anything at all in his opinion. And the scars on her body don't change a thing, she's still the Lucy he loves.

Natsu doesn't waste a second, he gets over Lucy and kisses her impatiently, while feeling her familiar breasts. Although, they feel a lot better right now then they have ever before. Lucy gasps as Natsu squeezes them harder. He takes the opportunity to roam her mouth.

Lucy hands finally take off his belt. Natsu's pants are loose around his hips. Lucy tries to get them off. She's starting to feel impatient. That stupid piece of fabric is the only thing in her way and she wanted it off. Before she can, though, Natsu pulls away slightly.

Even though Natsu's head is screaming not to stop, and he can feel the anticipation rising in him, he has to ask. "Are you sure?"

Without giving him an answer, Lucy flips them so she's on top. Although, it took a lot more effort than it sounds. She decides, two can play the teasing game and attacks his neck. All doubts aside, Natsu traces his hands down her smooth back. Lucy arches to his touch, causing her chest to touch his. Natsu hisses slightly, turning them back around.

He takes her nipple in his mouth. Lucy shrieks a little but pushes his head closer. His left hand gives him support while his right hand trails down to her thighs. He feels around her smooth skin. It's so soft, he takes note. Another thing that drives him crazy about her.

Lucy's right hand is still holding Natsu's face to her breast while her other massages her other breast. Slowly Natsu's hand reaches in between her legs, so close to her opening. He's teasing her, she knows he is.

"Natsu!" Lucy says angrily, squirming. She can't wait anymore.

Natsu pulls his face away from her breast to grin deviously at the girl in his mercy. He feigns innocence. "What is it, Lucy?"

She's gonna need to punch him for that later. The look on her face makes Natsu laugh a little before sticking his finger inside. Catching Lucy's moan in a kiss, he adds another finger and thrusts his fingers in and out. Lucy tugs at Natsu's hair.

This feeling is so completely different than anything she's ever done before. It's because she's allowing Natsu to do this. She _wants_ it. And because Natsu actually cares. Natsu contains passion, care, restraint, control and love. It's so different, it's so much more pleasurable, it's so perfect. And only Natsu can make her feel these feelings.

Lucy's back arches. She's searching for a release. She has to remove her lips from Natsu's so she can voice this. "More, Natsu! Ah-"

Natsu kisses her again. Now his thumb is rubbing her nub. And he's not being too kind about it. Lucy moans into Natsu's mouth. Just a little more. A little more and- "Natsu!"

Lucy shakes underneath Natsu. Natsu continues to move his fingers, allowing her to ride it out. Her walls were so tight even for his two fingers. He himself has lost his patience and is kicking his last article of clothing off. As he places himself at Lucy's entrance, Natsu touches her face lovingly. Lucy shrinks into the touch.

"I told you I was going to show you what it felt to be loved, right?" Natsu says softly. Lucy's heart flutters, and not because of their activities. She would reply, if Natsu hadn't already begun to enter.

Slowly, Natsu enters. A moan escapes both pairs of lips. Lucy adjusts to Natsu's length and rolls her hips urgently. Natsu complies and sets a steady pace. Lucy's clutching her sheets in tight fists. She lets out a surprised gasp when Natsu hits deeper within her. Natsu continues to attack in that spot, faster than before. Lucy can't thinks straight, she grabs Natsu's face and brings it down to her own, kissing him like she has to. Like she _needs_ to.

Lucy moans loudly and shuts her eyes. Her walls close in, and while calling out Natsu's name, she's reached her high. She shakes and lets out another moan.

"Fuck," Natsu curses. He lifts one of Lucy's legs for better access. He has to hit deeper, harder, _more_.

"Natsu!" Lucy calls out again. She hadn't finished riding her high and she was still building up to another one. Natsu's hand rubs her nub, causing her to yell, quite loudly, "Natsu!"

Giving his last deep thrust, Natsu and Lucy reach the peak together. Natsu continues to ride it out a bit more. Lucy's completely exhausted, reaching out to touch Natsu's face. As soon as she touches his cheek, he lands on top of her, pulling out. Lucy wraps her arms around him, feeling his muscular back. She doesn't care that it's hard to breathe, she holds Natsu on top of herself.

Natsu shuts his eyes and catches his breath. Lucy does the same. Natsu lazily kisses Lucy before trailing his kisses lower. His kissing trail down between her breasts, down her stomach and to her thighs. Her gently traces his finger over her scars. one by one. He moves higher, to her opening.

Lucy moans slightly, feeling embarrassed. "Natsu, I'm so exhausted-Natsu!"

Natsu doesn't care. He wants to taste her. So he licks her. Hearing her moan, he continues. He can feel her smooth thighs squeeze, trapping him. This makes Lucy more embarrassed but she can barely focus on her own actions. All she can feel is Natsu and his mouth.

Lucy shuts her eyes tight. Her hands reach up to her face and she cries out in pleasure. Natsu's tongue flicks back and forth on her nub, causing a swirl of ecstasy flow through her. Natsu sticks two fingers inside her and watches her squirm. She feels herself reach her fourth orgasm and hides her face in embarrassment.

When he feels her walls clench around his finger and her body shake, he pulls himself back up. With a smug grin he says, "Lucy-4, Natsu-1. The count is on."

Lucy can only glare at the man, although she still felt so completely happy. There were so many things Lucy wanted to say. First off thank you, second off I love you, and third off she needed to praise him and his abilities to drive her over the edge. But she was tired and she didn't want to ruin the moment.

"That was the best sex I've ever had." Lucy whispers breathlessly, completely out of breath.

Natsu's hands lightly trace her delicious curves. He plants light kisses along her collarbone. "I believe that's because we made love instead."

Immense happiness possesses Lucy. She cups Natsu's face in her hands and lifts it to meet her eyes. She grins as wide as she can. "Yes. Because we made love."

* * *

**A/N:** _Yes Natsu, yes Lucy, make love. Make lots of love. ;)_

_Tell me how terrible it was. Or how rushed it was. Or how awkward it was. On a scale of one to ten, how bad am I at lemons? Haha, I don't really write too many of them so sorry, I'm not very experienced. :P But you perverts (I mean that lightly, don't take it to heart-cuz honestly I'm one too:D ) got what you wanted! yay! *hides away in shame*_

_Reviews are always nice ;)_


	19. Haunted

_Explanation for previous chapter: Okay, to start off, I know it was extremely rushed. I just thought, well, it's already 18 chapters in. How long am I planning to drag out this story, I really don't know. So far everything that's been happening has been happening over the course of a bit over 2 weeks are so. That means Natsu and Lucy have been together for about a week and a half which is pretty short, and I apologize for that. I made a lot of mistakes but I'm kinda glad because I'm still learning and this gives room for improvement. :)_

_I'm also really sorry for any other things you guys didn't like. There's actually another lemon in this chapter (great.) and I wanted to take it out but it leads into the next part of the story that I have planned. I know now it's coming off as less serious, but at the end of the day, I can't be the one to teach you something I have not experienced first hand. By that I mean the sexual content like rape. I am truly sorry._

* * *

Lucy's eyes fluttered open. Birds were chirping outside her window, and she felt very at ease. She turns around to feel for a body next to hers. Confusion wracks her brain when she doesn't feel a body anywhere on the bed. Now she's fully awake, sitting straight up.

The blanket falls and exposes her chest. Lucy shrieks and covers herself up with the blanket. Where the heck is Natsu? His clothes were gone as well. Had she dreamed it all last night? No way. Looking around, Lucy picks up her towel from the ground and wraps it around herself and decides to look for Natsu.

As Lucy heads down the stairs she hears hushed voices. She peeks into the kitchen to see Natsu arguing with someone. When she walks further down, she sees Natsu budding heads with a naked Gray. Happy was flying around their heads, trying to hush them.

"What's going on?" Lucy asks. The two men look over at their team mate.

As quick as possible, Natsu covers Gray's eyes. "Pervert, walking into my woman's house, stripping and then staring at her in a towel."

"Hey, I only came by to say that Erza is waiting for us at the train station! She found us another job to go on." Gray says. "And Lucy was the one who wanted to go on another job, so she should know. And get your hands off me! I'm not interested in Lucy!"

Natsu suspiciously takes his hand off. He eyes him, making sure the ice-make mage won't pull anything. Lucy on the other hand moves to grab a glass of water. "Thanks Gray. We'll meet you guys there in an hour or so, is that okay?"

"Fine by me." Gray says with a shrug. He sends Natsu a final glare, which Natsu returns, before he makes his exit.

"Natsu, why didn't you tell me you were going to Lucy's?" Happy asks. "I was so worried and scared at home!"

"Uh..." Natsu looks over at Lucy. She smiling and trying to suppress a giggle as she drinks her water. "Well, you see-uh, I was just making sure no one was going to break in. I found out the locks were pretty bad. I may need to stay here a couple of days until that gets fixed."

Happy blinks a couple of times but smiles anyway. "Okay! Maybe I can invite Carla over next time!"

"What?!" Lucy and Natsu both exclaim. Lucy stifles a laugh while saying, "And do what kinds of activities, might I ask?"

"We could have a sleepover. Don't girls like that sort of stuff?" Happy asks. He looks completely innocent, much to the relief of Natsu. Lucy shakes her head. Happy must have inherited Natsu's clueless attributes. Given Natsu isn't his maternity father, but still. Natsu raised him to be clueless.

Natsu lets out a deep breath and smiles. "You're better off inviting Lily instead."

"Lily? Why would I do that?!" Happy asks. Before his question can be answered, Happy's already flying out the window. "I'm going to wait with Erza and Gray! Maybe Erza will feel generous and buy me some fish! Bye!"

As soon as he's gone Lucy lets out a laugh. Natsu lets out a shaky one of his own. "Natsu, you never told him where babies come from?"

"I didn't bother to, it's not like he came out that way." Natsu says.

Lucy rolls her eyes. "Anyways we only have an hour, so I'll go brush my teeth okay?"

Natsu takes Lucy's wrists in his own. There's a mischievous look on his face. "An hour would be enough."

"Natsu, we can't, Gray and Erza are waiting and-" Lucy's sentence is cut off when Natsu tips her glass of water so it runs down her chest and onto the towel. Lucy gasps from the cold touch and natsu takes the moment to kiss her. With reluctance Lucy kisses him back. Well, if she were to deny him then this will only take a longer time. Not like she wanted to or anything.

Natsu lifts Lucy and sits her on the counter. He gives a slight tug to her towel which falls off easily. Lucy slips Natsu's waist coat off his shoulders. Natsu's finger slowly runs down Lucy's bare back, causing her to shiver even though his hands are hot. Lucy reaches for Natsu's belt, that stupid thing-

"Natsu, Erza says-" Happy's voice calls out, flying back into the kitchen. Lucy yelps and tries covering herself. Happy stares at the two guilty people with blinking eyes. He's extremely confused and a little grossed out. In a small voice he says, "E-Erza says she's gonna buy breakfast..."

Natsu only grins to his friend. "Thanks buddy! We'll be done soon alright? Tell Erza that."

Happy nods, flying back out the window. Natsu turns back around to the naked girl in front of him. She looks completely horrified. Natsu grins again in that mischievous way. "So where were we?"

He leans down to kiss Lucy but she pushes him away lightly. "Natsu! We can't."

"Sure we can!" Natsu says. Not letting her voice anymore concerns, he kisses her to throw away her doubts. She undoes his belt and throws it aside. If they're gonna do it, it has to be quick. Natsu laughs a little, his hands trailing down her waist to her thighs.

Lucy shivers. "Natsu, no teasing!"

Natsu pouts and complies, dropping his pants. He pulls Lucy to the end of the counter. He almost immediately enters, earning him a moan from the blonde. Her legs wrap around him, pushing him further inside her. Natsu grips onto her hips tightly. Not wasting any time he thrusts in a fast speed.

Lucy's hands clench into fists but there's nothing to grab so she grabs Natsu. She pulls his head to her neck and runs her hands through his hair. Natsu gives her neck a lick, causing her to moan into his ear. For once it's Natsu who shivers. Lucy grins and continues to moan in his ear.

"Dammit Lucy," Natsu says a little breathlessly. He thrusts harder inside her.

Lucy holds onto Natsu shoulders tightly as her whole body tenses and she begins to shake. Natsu groans from the sudden tightness. Lucy moans Natsu's name and feels herself release. Since Natsu hadn't reached it yet, he continues to thrust. Lucy groans, arching her back onto him.

The feeling of Lucy's breasts rubbing against his chest sends his mind elsewhere. His eyes close and he can feel himself nearing. Lucy herself is shaking in yet more anticipation. Natsu moves even faster and can feel himself release into Lucy. Lucy moans, reaching her second orgasm. Natsu kisses her her as he pulls out.

With a smirk Natsu says against Lucy's lips, "2-6."

Lucy rolls her eyes and pushes him away. She hops off the counter and cleans up around herself with the towel. Without a word she heads upstairs to change. Natsu follows her. Lucy grabs a pair of shorts and a pink t-shirt to wear, along with pink underwear and bra. Natsu points to a red pair, "I think you should wear the red ones."

"Natsu!" Lucy scolds, turning him around as she pulls her pink underwear on. She continues to dress herself, but can't help feeling self-conscious. "Aren't you the least bit embarrassed that Happy walked in on us?"

"No." Natsu says, sneaking a peek at Lucy. "Why would I?"

"What if he tells Erza and Gray?" Just the thought of it makes Lucy light-headed. She glares at Natsu. "And stop peeking pervert!"

"I've already seen everything, what's the big deal?" Natsu says playfully. Lucy sighs and grabs her keys. After brushing her teeth and hair, which Natsu has already done, Lucy leads the way down the stairs. Natsu trails behind with a grin.

The train station wasn't too far away from Lucy's house. Lucy is relieved to find that they made it within an hour. She looks around the station to see Erza and Gray sitting at a bench. Lucy waves Natsu over and heads to her other team mates. "Hey! Sorry we took so long!"

"No worries. I'm sure you two were... _quite busy_." Gray says with a smirk, eyeing Lucy, making her feel extremely embarrassed and guilty.

"I'm sure it was extremely difficult for Natsu to focus when you were, _let's just say_, a little less than modest near him." Erza joins in on the teasing. She has an amused smile. She must be basking in Lucy's shame.

Lucy nearly faints from embarrassment. Muttering under her breath she says, "Damn cat!"

Gray chuckles. "Anyway your coffee is cold now, but you can still eat the rolled omelet. Oh and I'm sure you can just eat it all, I don't think Natsu would be in the mood for food."

Lucy nods graciously, taking the said food. She sits as far away as possible from Gray without causing suspicion. She just feels too embarrassed to be anywhere near the two. In a shy voice she asks, "So... what's the job?"

"Some sort of fraud deal. The requester says he was negotiating with a business man when the guy stole all of his belongings along with something very valuable to him after tying him up with some sort of magic." Erza reads from the paper. "Says he wants it back, and not only that but he wants the other business man to go bankrupt."

"What about the reward?"

"100,000 Jewels. 25,000 Jewels each, since Natsu and Happy share."

Lucy calculates in her head. 25,000 Jewels from finding Yuna, 15,000 Jewels for catching the bandits, and 25,000 Jewels from this. She still needs 5,000 more Jewels after this. Lucy feels exhausted just thinking about it.

"All passengers boarding the train to Shirotsume please board now. Train leaves in five minutes." The announcement booms through the station. The team stand and head to the entrance of the train. Lucy look around and finds Natsu near the trash can, holding his stomach. With a roll of her eyes and a grin on her face Lucy heads to the trash can.

"Come on Natsu," She says, pulling his arm. She leads the reluctant Natsu and Happy who trails behind to the train.

The train ride feels too long for Natsu, even though it happened to only be 45 minutes. Erza doesn't even give him time to breathe when the train stops. She leads the way to the address of the requester. Erza points to a large mansion a few yards away. "That's our destination."

Lucy squints her eyes. The house looks familiar. This was probably a friend of her dad's. It just seems like she been inside that house before...

"Lucy, you coming?" Natsu questions. Lucy blinks, realizing Erza, Gray and Happy are already a yard ahead of them. Natsu sticks out a hand. Lucy smiles and takes his hand. All thoughts leave her head as she walks next to Natsu, hand in hand.

They reach the rest of the team after Erza has already knocked on the doors. The heavy door opens to reveal a butler. "Yes? What is your business?"

Erza holds up the request in her hand. "Fairy Tail. We're here on behalf of some fraud. Let us speak to the requester."

"Let them in, Howe." A voice calls from inside. Howe moves to reveal the young man who spoke the words. His hair is chocolate brown, same height as Natsu, a little tan, blue eyes, and a charming smile. His eyes land on Lucy first. "Lucy? Lucy Heartfilia?"

Lucy's eyes widen. Her heart drops. A frown reaches her face. In a thick voice she asks, "Ken Watanabe?"

Lucy feels light-headed. No way. No damn way. How can he be here? Why is she so unfortunate to see him again? And in front of her team mates. She feels sick. If it weren't for Natsu's hand holding hers tightly she would think of this as a dream._ No, a nightmare._

* * *

**A/N:** _Who do you think Ken is? :)_


	20. Confrontation

"How long has it been? Please, make yourselves comfortable!" Ken motions for them to enter. As soon as they do Ken pulls Lucy into a hug. Lucy's hand that was holding Natsu's is let go of. "I heard about your father. I'm so sorry, I attended his funeral and was hoping to catch you, but then I heard you had disappeared."

"Yeah..." Lucy replies, looking over at Natsu. Natsu seems skeptical. It must seem like a long-lost friend, that's why he's allowing this man to get friendly with her.

"Lucy, can I speak to you alone for a minute? We have a lot to catch up on!" Ken says, motioning towards what looks to be an office. Not trying to raise suspicion, Lucy nods her head. Under her breath she mutters something. "What was that?"

"Oh nothing." Lucy says quickly, entering the room. Ken follows behind and shuts the door behind him. "So what did you want to talk about?"

Ken smirks. In a low voice he says, "If I had known you were a mage of Fairy Tail I would have set up a request long ago. A much different one if you ask me. Perhaps a request of bringing back the past. We could play around like we used to."

Lucy shivers. "I can't grant you that request."

"You haven't changed much, have you?" Ken says with a light-hearted scoff. "I on the hand have aged 7 years in your absence. I've waited 10 years for you, Lucy."

Lucy's hands ball up into fists. "Wow, what a coincidence. I've also been waiting for you. To punch you in the face."

"Now, now, you are my guest." Ken says with a charming smile. His voice on the other hand speaks trouble. "I'm glad you're here. Maybe now we can negotiate between ourselves, instead of including your father. That man. He really enjoyed using you as a winning debate."

"Stop!" Lucy says in a weak voice, backing away from Ken. "I didn't come so we can bring back the past!"

Ken only looks amused and steps forward, pinning her against the wall. "Oh but we had so much fun back then! Come on, Lucy. The party doesn't need to end. We can just head upstairs to my room. I'm sure I can pleasure you in the ways you loved so much back then. Or maybe you can pleasure me. You always were good with your hands and mouth."

Lucy feels a shriek trying to escape her mouth. Instead she pushes on Ken's chest; trying, and failing, to push him away. "Get off me!"

A light knock on the door interrupts them. Ken rolls his eyes and moves to open the door. As soon as he does a fist knocks him to the other side of the room. Natsu enters and approaches Lucy. He must have been able to hear them with his good hearing. Or maybe he heard her whisper for help before.

Natsu wraps an arm around Lucy, making sure she's okay. Natsu glares at Ken. "You son of a bitch."

"Oh, so this is the man you now sleep with? Well done, Lucy." Ken says, his voice laced with venom. "Although, I do believe his intellect lacks quite a bit. I suggest you exit this room and leave me to finish my conversation with my lovely friend Lucy."

"Go fuck yourself." Natsu spits out. Lucy hides herself behind him.

"I'd rather fuck Lucy." Ken says, feeling more amused. "_Again._"

"Go to hell!" Natsu says, attacking Ken again with another punch.

Ken dodges and grabs Natsu's arm. A bright light emits from Ken, blinding Natsu. Ken gives Natsu his own punch in the face. Natsu stumbles back. Ken laughs. "Maybe after this I'll file a report on assault. Punching your boss is against the law, you know? Heh, and while Lucy waits for you to exit prison, I'll be the one next to her."

"You fucking disgust me. Lucy will never allow that to happen." Natsu says.

"We're completing your stupid request and leaving you for damn good." Lucy says, reaching out for Natsu. "You'll never see me again. And we're not friends, Ken. I can never forget. We will never be friends again. So stop."

"It seems you don't seem to like my presence? You sure liked it back then." Ken says with a smirk. "Back when we were kids, and your dad would speak to my father alone... How they'd ask you to enter the room and your dad would leave for some reason. You remember that? It happened quite a lot if I remember correctly."

Lucy's eyes brim with tears. "Stop."

Natsu pulls Lucy to him. Ken just seems to go on. "Why would my father want to be alone with you? I always wondered. I heard you screaming so I came in. Man was that surprising. I'm sure you felt appreciative when I punched my own father in the face for you. Hah, and afterwards your father and mine negotiated that _I'd_ be more suitable to 'entertain' you. Boy were they right."

"Perhaps we should be the one reporting against you?" Lucy says, her voice a lot stronger than she felt.

"Oh but that's a lost cause. All of this happened, what? 11 years ago?" Ken says. "And, I remember you saying once, when we were in the garden, that you were glad it was me. I agree, those old men do not look preferable. I guess our ages were the same at the time. Or maybe you just liked the way I made you feel. I still remember your voice moaning my name."

"It was rape, Ken!" Lucy screams. "I never asked you to enter my chambers at night! I wasn't moaning your name, I was screaming! You could've saved me! You could've not done anything! But you're a pig just like your father. I thought we were friends! You were so nice... But when given the chance you used me..."

"There's nothing wrong with having a little fun, now is there, Lucy?" Ken questions with a raised brow. "You had fun too, don't deny it. I was different from the other men, I made you feel pleasure because the others couldn't. I was only a piece in a business negotiation. I was used as well. Only, my position was a lot more preferable."

Lucy's jaw drops. Her tears begin to fall. Natsu runs his hand up and down her back soothingly. He honestly was hoping to murder Ken right here but has to contain himself for Lucy's sake. Lucy pushes him away. Natsu looks surprised. Lucy just backs away. "No. Don't touch me. All of you men are sick, disgusting, pigs! All any of you want is sex! Go fuck yourselves!"

Lucy drops to the ground, crying. Natsu glares at Ken. "You bastard. You have no fucking clue what the hell you put Lucy through. Who the hell are you to say such bullshit? Did you fucking enjoy putting her through that? She was innocent!"

"Oh, be quiet. I spent my youth with Lucy. I know a lot of what she's been through. None of it was innocent." Ken says. "Only, I don't really care anymore. She could've chosen to stay with me. I would have protected her from the others. But she ran away, and left me behind. Without any thing keeping the deal in tact, her father scammed us and led us to bankruptcy. Just like the bastard who's trying to do this again."

"Then how did you receive this mansion?" Natsu questions. He slowly approaches Lucy, hoping she'll let him touch her again.

"My grandmother sued the man for everything he had. He lost and everything was given to her. When she died, her inheritance went to my father and I. This is merely a subordinate of our real home. And now that man is dead." Ken says. He lets out a sigh. "A shame really, I wanted to make one last negotiation with him."

"We're not taking your damn request." Natsu says angrily. He finally reaches Lucy. He lightly touches Lucy's shoulder. She stops her crying and goes silent. "Right, Lucy? We're going home. To the guild. We'll pick out some other requests to pay for your rent. Okay?"

Lucy shakes her head. She glares at Ken. "No. We came all this way. We're gonna finish it and never come back."

"That's it! The same Lucy as I remember! Feisty, sexy, and _hot_." Ken says with a laugh. "Funny, though, hey? My name means Born of Fire!"

"Funny, though, hey? I eat fire." Natsu says back, an amused smile of his own.

"I must ask, what is your name?" Ken asks, ignoring Natsu's comment.

"Natsu."

"Well, _Natsu_, I was wondering, are Lucy's moans as loud as I remember?"

A shiver of disgust runs down Lucy's spine. She once again moves out of Natsu's reach. She can taste her tears, salty and sad. She just wants to scream and run away but she can't. If she did then Gray and Erza will know. And no one else can find out about her past.

"If you're so into business negotiations then let's make one." Lucy says, approaching Ken. "We'll complete this job. Once we're done you'll never contact Fairy Tail. We'll never show our faces to you ever again and you will do the same. You are not part of my life and I am not part of yours."

"And what do I get as a peace offering?"

"A slap in the face would serve you right." Lucy says. Ken doesn't look amused. Natsu on the other hand snickers. "We can discuss that once we're done. How about that?"

Ken laughs. "And what if I don't want to agree?"

"Well then you will experience hell's fire and the blistering cold of winter's worst blizzard. Not to mention the thousands of swords our S-Class mage has to offer." Lucy says. "And me? _I'll finish you off._ I hate you that much."

Ken sighs. "What has time done to us, Lucy?"

"Time did nothing. This was your own doing."

"Fine. I will agree that we will discuss this once you have completed my request." Ken says.

Lucy walks out as soon as he finishes his sentence. That's all she needed to hear. She walks past the kitchen, calling out for Gray and Erza who are eating cheesecake and popsicles. Happy was munching on a fish. Exiting the mansion, Lucy finally breathes.

"You okay?" A voice asks softly. So softly that Lucy feels more tears come out her eyes. Natsu wipes them away. "Let's hurry up and get this over with so we can go home, alright? I can make you some pancakes."

Lucy throws her arms around Natsu's torso, squeezing tightly. A rush of guilt spreads through her. In the softest voice she can, she says, "I'm so sorry Natsu..."

Natsu laughs while rubbing her back. He brushes off her words. "Come on, I can't stand this place for another second."

Lucy can't help feeling embarrassed. How could she say such awful things to Natsu? They slipped out... She wouldn't be surprised if he was angry. He deserves to be. Lucy feels like slapping herself. One day of hell to another.

Erza, Gray and happy show up with their food. Gray sticks out a pepper at Natsu. Natsu shakes his head. Gray's eyebrows scrunch up. "What's the matter? You two look like you got hit by a train. Did you have your first fight?"

Natsu groans. "Getting hit by a train would be better than riding it."

Lucy smiles, holding Natsu tighter. "Well... It was nothing big. Let's hurry up though, okay? What's that guys address we need to go to?"

"He's in Crocus." Erza says. She begins leading the way. "We can take the next train but we don't have much time."

Trailing behind the group, Lucy grabs Natsu's arm. Natsu looks over at the sad girl. Lucy moves her hand down to Natsu's own, clutching it tightly. "I _am_ really sorry, Natsu. You're not a disgusting pig looking for sex. I was the one who pulled the first move. I'm sorry."

Natsu grins. "I really don't care about that. I'm just ready to kill that asshole. Maybe instead of Born of Fire he'll Die of Fire."

Lucy giggles into her hand. "But be careful, Natsu... Ken can use magic too. That's how he blinded you back there. He uses power of the sun. So he uses light, fire, and sadly, star magic. And he looks like he's improved a lot since we were kids, which makes a lot of sense."

"Three different types of magic? Hah! No big deal." Natsu says triumphantly. "I'll still murder him."

"No, Natsu, you won't." Lucy says. "I will."

Natsu grins. He pulls his hand away from Lucy's only to wrap his arm around her shoulders. He pulls her close and gives her a peck on the head. Lucy smiles. If that counted as a first fight then it's good to say they reconciled so quickly.

Ken... Why does he have to be back?

* * *

**A/N:** _Okay it was pretty obvious Ken was going to be a former rapist, haha. Anyway, no, Ken is not based on a true person. And I know he sounds extremely harsh in this chapter. _

_Review and let me know what you think will happen next! :)_

_Sorry about not updating for 4 days. I'm back in school (I was recently on a 10 day break) so writing has been difficult for me. Especially with all the end of the year school assignments. -Procrastination at its finest! Gosh, I seriously can't wait for summer._


	21. Infiltrate

"This type of party really isn't my forte." Gray complains in a hushed whisper. Lucy nods her head and hands Gray a glass of wine. They stare at their surroundings. Business men and women are talking to one another in business fashion. Negotiations and trades are being made all around them. The only way to enter was for Lucy to use her status as a Heartfilia, daughter of Layla and Jude.

"Just endure it a while longer. Natsu and Erza are waiting outside." Lucy says, taking a sip from the highly expensive wine.

Gray straightens his suit. "Why did you bring me into this? Was the fight between you and Natsu that bad?"

Lucy shakes her head. "I can't trust Natsu to be in this kind of place. For obvious reasons you can understand."

"Right." Gray replies, observing the room once more. "So this guy we're trying to find, how exactly are we going to know it's him? Do you think he's even here?"

"If he is, we'll definitely know about it. If he's in a place like this then he'll surely try something similar to what he did to Ken." Lucy's eyes wander to a window. She sees Natsu's face appear. He grins at her and waves, Happy flying next to him. Lucy's eyes widen and she looks around to make sure no one sees Natsu. She shoos him with her hand. "Natsu that idiot! He's blowing our cover."

Gray takes a look over his shoulder at Natsu. "I know how we'll get him to stop. Care for a dance?"

Lucy scoffs and takes Gray's hand in her own. "Sure. It'll be easier to look around as well, without looking suspicious."

Pulling Lucy behind him, Gray sticks his tongue out slightly to Natsu. Natsu nearly punches the window, but Happy holds him back. Lucy sighs, there's definitely going to be another fight tonight. As the two make their way to the dance floor, Lucy keeps her eyes open. She wants to get this mission over with as soon as possible, and she wants to be the one to complete it.

"Don't look so serious, it's suspicious." Gray instructs, leading them into a dance. He leans into her ear. "Act like you're having a good time. I have an idea."

Lucy laughs a little. Gray pulls away from her ear with a grin. He spins her around and laughs light-heartedly himself. Lucy's tries to look around as she spins. When Gray pulls her back to him, she's shocked by the look in his eyes. "Gray? What's with that intense look?"

Gray stops dancing. He takes one of Lucy's hands in his own, and drops to one knee. Lucy is flabbergasted at the sight. This was not what she signed up for. Gray clears his throat. "Lucy Heartfilia! The diamond in the rough, the Jewel worth millions! The love of my life! Will you be my girlfriend?"

Everyone stops to stare at the two. The music stops and Lucy's head aches. A sudden noise is heard outside, possibly Natsu punching the wall. If there wasn't so many people watching, Lucy would have face-palmed herself. But the look in Gray's eyes were serous. He really wants to go through with this. Lucy sighs mentally, she'll have to trust her team mate.

"Yes!" Lucy exclaims, wrapping her arms wround Gray's neck. Gray stands and swings her around. The crowd starts to clap hesitantly, although there are a lot of scoffs and snickers. Whispers like, "Stupid kids, this isn't a place for romance", "Are those Fairy Tail mages? No wonder they're so rowdy", and "That man is handsome!" are filling the room.

Gray grins and pulls Lucy off the dance floor and leads her to the hall. Lucy tries to smile at the crowd and wave nonchalantly. When given the privacy of the empty hallway, Gray turns to Lucy. "Great idea, hey?"

Lucy, finally, face-palms herself. "What the hell are you thinking Gray?!"

Gray grins. "See, this guys is looking for everyone's most valuable treasures. They want to take something extremely important, right? So why not give him a show. He now thinks _you're_ my most valuable treasure, so I think it'll attract him. We just need to reel him in, get him outside, and Natsu and Erza will take it from there."

"That's actually pretty smart." Lucy says, removing her hand from her face. "Good job, Gray! But... How will he come to us in here?"

"We'll just have to go back out." Gray says, reaching a hand out to Lucy. Lucy takes a deep breath, trying to get into character. The two walk back into the busy room. Heads turn their way every now and then, and something—Natsu—is sending dangerous vibes from outside.

"Well, well, if it isn't Lucy Heartfilia in the flesh!" A feminine voice calls from behind the pair. Lucy looks over to see a purple haired woman, a few years older than Lucy herself. She doesn't look familiar at all. The woman must see the hesitance in Lucy's eyes. "What, you don't remember me? I'm Jasmine! I used to come over to your house all the time!"

Lucy gives the woman a small smile, still completely oblivious as to who she is. She looks over at Gray, who also seems a little on edge. "Haha, oh... Great to see you, Jasmine! How long has it been?"

"Too long. Come and give me a hug!" Jasmine says, opening her arms for Lucy. Lucy complies awkwardly. What's it with people of the past wanting to hug all the time? Jasmine pulls away with a large grin. "You don't remember all of our fights over who got to play with which doll?"

"Sorry, my memory is really bad. Anyway, what brings you here?" Lucy asks. Jasmine on the other hand is glancing over at Gray, who waves awkwardly. Lucy clears her throat. "Oh, yeah, this is Gray."

"What a handsome boyfriend you have." Jasmine says. Her voice took a 90 degree turn to a seductive one. Lucy stares at the woman in surprise. Jasmine moves over and places a hand on Gray's shoulder. "So, tell me, Gray. What are you doing with Lucy here?"

Gray smiles charmingly at the woman. "I'm escorting her. What brings you here?"

Jasmine laughs as if Gray tells a joke. Lucy rolls her eyes. Jasmine bats her lashes. "I'm here for business. But, _Gray_, I was wondering if you would like to come outside for some fresh air with me?"

Gray looks over at Lucy, who shrugs. The way Jasmine says Gray's name makes Lucy's stomach nauseous. "Sure thing."

The two head outside arm in arm. Lucy moves to the window, where she sees Natsu down by the entrance. His back is turned to her, but she can only guess he's scowling. A hand lightly taps Lucy's shoulder. Lucy turns to see a young man, younger than herself, holding out a hand to her.

"Care for a dance?" The young fellow asks. Lucy sighs and without a word follows the little guy to the dance floor. As they move in tune to the music, the young boy says, "So I see your escort has left you for another, how unfortunate. Would you mind if I take the roll instead?"

Lucy rolls her eyes. Okay, she's not this desperate. And honestly, this little boy could not have been the one to steal from Ken. But a job is a job and she has to complete it no matter what. "Sure thing, kiddo. So, how old are you?"

The boy smiles wide. "Almost 15, in 10 months."

A laugh escapes Lucy's lips. "So 14. Nice, kid. What's your name?"

"George. And hey, I'm not that little. I can pose a good threat if I want to." The boy says with a huff. "And I'll bet you anything I'm more of a man than the guy you were with earlier! What kind of guy dedicates his love and then leaves for a prettier woman? Tch tch."

A vein twitches on Lucy's head. She ignores that insult and asks another question. "Listen, kid, I'm busy here. So can we get a move on in whatever it is you want?"

The boys leans into Lucy. Lucy pushes the boy away immediately. Was this kid trying to kiss her?! Words can not express the amount of disgust that made Lucy's spine shiver. George laughs, his hand trails to Lucy's middle back. "Come on, Lucy! Let's head up stairs, I know someone who's been wanting to see you all night."

Lucy moves with the boy but doesn't say a word. The only thing she wants to do is kick him in the face. This stupid little boy's perverted hands were trailing lower than Lucy liked. She lets the kid lead her to a room upstairs. Lucy looks around the place. "There's no one here, who am I waiting for?"

"Me."

Lucy turns to see Jasmine standing next to George. Lucy's not very surprised, but can't help feeling annoyed by seeing the woman in front of her. George smirks and bows his head to Jasmine before making his leave. Lucy looks around Jasmine. "Where's Gray?"

"He's not what you're going to need to worry about." Jasmine says with a vindictive laugh. "He's somewhere special. But first, I need something from you. I heard about your keys, the rarest keys for any Celestial Spirit to achieve, right? Well I want them. So either hand them over, or I'll take them the hard way."

Lucy ignores her. "You're the one who stole something from Ken Watanabe, huh? Well I guess I'm just gonna have to kick your ass and take back what's his."

Jasmine laughs hysterically. Lucy glares at the purple haired woman. Jasmine flips her hair. "Really now? You know, there are rumours going around about the two of you. Something about being betrothed to one another. That's funny though, seeing as you're here with Gray Fullbuster and Ken acts as a free bachelor."

Lucy clenches her fists and grinds her teeth together. "That's not true. We were never engaged."

"You wanna know what I took from him?" Jasmine asks, almost kindly. "I was pretty disappointed. I would have thrown it away, but I know how much it means to him, so maybe I'll just use it as a chess piece against him."

"How did you even take it from him anyway?"

"Men are weak when it comes to a little seduction. You get in bed with them and they won't know the next thing coming." Jasmine sighs, flicking her wrists as if she's bored. "Anyway, it's not important. I've taken many things before and his is by far the most disappointing. Your keys will make up for that pathetic item though."

Lucy snickers. "Too bad you can't use the art of seduction on me."

"Give me your keys or your friend Gray will die by my hands." Jasmine says. She points towards the bed. Lucy hadn't realized there was a figure in there. Gray's laying there with a pained face, completely soundless. Jasmine laughs once more. "Witness the magic of the human body on their own! I have tightened every muscle in his body. Any movement causes extreme pain. Even speaking is a chore."

Lucy stares at Gray's shirtless form. "Really, Gray? You were gonna get in bed with this woman?"

Gray grimaces but slightly shakes his head. He mutters, "N-No."

"He had his shirt off from the start. I simply used my magic to stop his movements. I threw him on the bed myself though. The guy's not as heavy as he looks." Jasmine says. "Anyway, I'll simply do the same to you and I will make my leave."

"Not happening!" A voice shouts before the window is smashed open. Erza jumps in, a sword already being thrown at Jasmine. Jasmine dodges and glares at the red-head. Erza reaches for another sword but freezes mid movement. "What the hell?"

Jasmine smirks. "How's my magic working for ya?"

"Perfect." Natsu says from behind. Jasmine turns to the fire dragon slayer, who's getting ready for a fight. Not one to hit an opponent behind their back, Natsu grins cockily. "Bring it on."

Jasmine jumps around Erza in a swift motion. "I would love to have a combat with the four of you, but four on one just isn't right now is it? I'll look forward to seeing you again." Jasmine jumps out the window.

"Wait!" Lucy calls out, chasing after her to the window. She watches as a bird of some sorts catches Jasmine and flies off. Lucy groans. "We failed our mission. Now what the hell are we going to do?... Natsu? What are you doing?"

Lucy looks over her shoulder at Natsu. Her sweat drops when she sees Natsu grinning mischievously as he moves Gray's limbs around. Gray is groaning in protest, and his groans only grow lower and more dangerous each time.

Natsu even has the balls to tickle Erza. Of course, Erza works through the pain and manages to send Natsu flying with a punch to the face. Gray lets out what sounds like a snort.

Lucy stares back out the window. She failed. She failed this mission. How is she going to face Ken? A shiver runs down her spine. At least the rest of her team was okay. Lucy sighs. She _will_ succeed next time. And after _that,_ she'll never have to ever think of Ken Watanabe again.

* * *

**A/N:** _Oh Gray and your ideas. (I love Gray so much) Expect a jealous Natsu next chapter. ;) Review please! :)_

**IMPORTANT:** _I know a couple people have already PM'd me about self-harm and stuff like that, I just want to say that **YES, SEND ME PM's IF YOU EVER WANT TO TALK.** I'm all ears and I'm here for you, alright? Don't think I'm just a writer writing this story, I'm a person and I can be your friend. :D I'm here whenever. If you're reading this 2, 5, even 10 years from now, PM me. Just, PM me._


	22. Innocent

The morning after the failed mission was just as unpleasant as the night. Lucy woke up with a deadly headache. In the beds nearby, she can see Natsu sound asleep, Erza sitting on her bed, testing her muscles, and Gray groaning as he too tried to sit.

"Erza?" Lucy calls out softly. The S-Class mage looks up at the blonde with a smile. "What are we going to do now?"

"We'll have to tell Ken that we failed his mission." Erza says bluntly. She raises her arms over her head in a stretch. "But we're not gonna stop. We'll have to search for that woman once more."

"She said her name was Jasmine. I'm not sure if she was lying or not but she kept saying we knew one another as kids." Lucy sighs. She rubs her eyes and stands. She needs to get ready. As Lucy passes Natsu's bed she nudges him. "Natsu, wake up. We have to move."

Natsu mutters something along the lines of "shut up Gray" and stirs to a different position. Lucy shakes her head and heads to the bathroom. When she shuts the door behind herself and knows she's in private, she feels her outer walls collapse. She stares into the reflection of the mirror. Why was she such a failure? Jasmine was literally on Lucy, hugging her and getting close. So how did she let her get away? How?

There goes Lucy, being the useless rock once again. She failed the mission. She failed the team. She failed herself. And it's taking everything in her power to not find something sharp and stab herself with it because quite frankly, cutting won't be enough anymore. The pent up frustration is emitting from Lucy. She turns on the tap to mask a sob that escapes her lips. A tear rolls down her cheek that she quickly wipes away.

Brushing her teeth and being frustrated was not a good combination. When she was finished, her teeth ached but that was the least of her problems. Moreover her chest ached and was begging to cry. Her head ached worse and she just wanted to lay down and sleep for a million years. But despite all of that, Lucy exits the bathroom with a smile on her face.

Just in time, too. Natsu has waken up and has pounced on Gray. "You bastard! Don't think I forgot what happened last night! I only refrained from hurting you because you were in that condition!"

"You idiot, you _did_ hurt me!" Gray says, grimacing at the thought of his aching muscles. He glares at Natsu and punches him in the face. "Asshole, I should be the one beating the hell out of you!"

Lucy feels a strong hand pat her on the back. Lucy turns to see Erza entering the bathroom. Erza winks at Lucy. "They're all yours!"

Lucy pouts. Damn. She grabs a change of clothes and changes in the closet. Not that the two males would have noticed her. They were both too busy punching each other in the face. Lucy exits the closet and works on her hair. When she's done brushing it, she finally decides it's time to break the two up. Not to mention she was getting an even worse headache.

"Stop guys, you need to get ready." Lucy says, without much care at all. After all, she's extremely tired. The two boys stop to glance at Lucy. When they see the tired look on her face, they both move away from one another with a scoff.

"We're never working together again." Gray mutters.

"Damn right we're not." Natsu mutters back.

"See look! You two agreed!" Lucy grins. Natsu and Gray glare at one another. Lucy shakes her head. "Anyway, hurry up and get ready. And Gray, get dressed. We're leaving soon. We have to go talk to the requester about the job."

Natsu clenches his fists and scoffs. "Like hell we do. We'll just go after the Jasmine person and knock her out. Plain and simple. We don't need to go back to that fuckers place to explain that we haven't completed what we came here for."

"Natsu it's not a big deal." Gray says. "Geez, we'll only make a pit stop."

Natsu glares at Gray. "Fuck you Gray."

"Why the fuck are you mad at me?!" Gray glares back.

"Because you hit on my girl, that's fucking why." Natsu says, throwing a punch at Gray.

Gray counters back with a punch of his own. "Maybe if you were trusted enough to act like a decent person, Lucy would have taken you as her escort!"

"You bastard!"

Lucy nearly screams. Her headache is pounding like crazy and she just wants to punch something or knock her head on the wall. She needs to get out of here, get some air. Lucy stares at the two boys who won't stop fighting and to the bathroom where the shower has just turned on. Maybe if Lucy goes to meet Ken on her own her headache will stop.

There's no way Lucy can wait. If she has to see Ken then she'll make it as quick as possible, but there's no way she can handle staying here with her team mates. It's suffocating. Even if no one will admit it, she was the cause for their failure. Lucy glares at the ground as she grabs her keys, leaves a note, and heads out. No one notices. It feels exactly the way it would about a month ago. Lucy sighs.

But it's better they don't know. There are matters Lucy must take care of. On her own.

* * *

The train ride from Crocus to Shirotsume felt awfully quiet and lonely. There was no motion sick Natsu or a stripping Gray, no Erza, or Happy. Lucy almost regrets ditching them. But prolonging this mission is killing her. Not to mention she only has another week to come up with the rest of the money for her rent. Sitting around wasn't helping her anxiety.

Relying on her memory, Lucy makes her way to Ken's mansion. Not only is she dreading seeing Ken's face, she's scared of what he'll do to her. But Lucy's stronger now. She won't let any man she doesn't want to lay his hands on her. Suddenly Lucy feels lonely again, and she misses Natsu holding her hand.

"Umph!" A voice says behind her.

Lucy jumps at the noise and turns to find Happy. "Happy?!"

"A-Aye..." Happy says, rubbing his knee as he stood back up. He looks at the ground guiltily. "When you were leaving, I read your note. I decided to follow you. ...Why? Did you forget I was there? Wahhh! Lucy forgot about me!"

Lucy can't help feeling guilt as she realizes she hadn't thought of the blue cat. Lucy smiles at the Exceed. "Sorry about that buddy. Come on! I don't wanna be late."

Happy grins and flies up, watching Lucy from the sky. Although Lucy was a bit disappointed that she wasn't on her own, she also felt relieved. Although, how is she to keep Happy from speaking to Ken? Surely Ken will bring up the past. Lucy is lost in thoughts and nearly passes the house if it wasn't for Happy pointing it out.

"Geez, you really did need me to come." Happy says proudly, knocking on the front door. Lucy smiles at the Exceed. Yeah, maybe she did.

"Yes? State your business?" Howe the butler answers, opening the door to reveal himself.

"Lucy Heartfilia and Happy from Fairy Tail, here on the account of a fraud. We were here a couple of days earlier. The rest of our team is still in Crocus but we are here to speak to Ken on the state of the mission." Lucy says. "This shouldn't take long."

Howe nods and lets them in. "Master Ken is in his office."

Lucy looks to where Howe is pointing. Great. It's the room from before. Lucy looks over at Happy, not sure whether or not to send him away. But Happy looks completely serious and Lucy can't bring herself to do it. So she approaches the office with Happy trailing behind. She knocks on the door three times.

"Come in." Ken's voice calls from the room. Lucy opens the doors. Ken looks up from his papers and smirks. "Well, well, if it isn't Lucy Heartfilia. Where is that gentleman Natsu? Have you come with my stolen item?"

"No. That is not what we're here to tell you." Lucy says strongly. She refuses to look too into his eyes, instead focusing on his beauty mark on his cheek. "Actually, we failed in our mission to catch Jasmine. You failed to mention the criminal was a woman. You also failed to mention she was a childhood friend."

Ken snickers. He turns his attention to Happy. "Who is this?"

"I'm Happy! At your service!" Happy says, saluting Ken. Ken grins, amused. Lucy shakes her head.

"Well then Happy, do you like fish?" Ken questions. Happy nods his head and says Aye. Ken nods as well. "Well tonight my servants are serving up a feast of fish. You may go test the fish out if you like. Try every single fish."

Happy's—and Lucy's—jaw drops. Happy nearly cries as he exits. "Aye sir! Thank you sir!"

Lucy shuts the door behind the exceed and turns to Ken. She glares at the brunette. "How'd you know how to get rid of him?"

"Last time you imbeciles came here you wiped my fridge out of popsicles, cheesecake, and fish. I could only guess which one that cat liked." Ken says with a roll of his eyes. Lucy grins. That's Fairy Tail for you. Ken stands from the desk and moves in front of it. He leans on it and crosses his arms. "So why are you here? You failed my mission."

"Had you have mentioned she was some sort of childhood friend things could have gone a lot easier. Or that it was a woman! The whole time my team was looking for a man." Lucy says hotly, flipping her hair. She still refuses to look into his eyes.

Ken sighs. "That bitch. I only got in bed with her for old times sake. That was the worst sex ever. I couldn't move for hours. I was definitely wishing it was you in that bed rather than her."

Lucy finally looks in his eyes, only to glare at him. "I wish it was worse."

"Now, now, Lucy." Ken says, raising a brow, amused. "Why are you really here? And without your little boy toy too. You do realize that you've left yourself completely unprotected from me. You know what? I've always wanted to try out office sex."

"You mean rape? Office rape?" Lucy questions sarcastically.

Ken bites his lip and rolls his eyes with annoyance. He moves a couple of steps closer to Lucy. "You know what Lucy? You really need to stop acting like some sort of victim. Natsu isn't here, so quit lying to save face. You and I both know that you enjoyed it. I know all your weak spots and all because you've showed them to me."

By this time he's pinned Lucy on the wall again. Lucy places her hands on his chest and forcefully pushes against him, but he won't budge.

Ken chuckles, he leans down to whisper, "I know your collarbones are the most sensitive part of your body,"—his finger traces Lucy's collarbones, causing her to shiver—"I know you hiss every time I pull your hair,"—He tugs a bit at Lucy's hair, causing her to hiss—"I know that what you like most is when I pull your body to mine by the waist—"

"Stop!" Lucy pushes Ken away forcefully. Ken stumbles back with a devious grin. "Just stop! Why the hell do you have to do this?"

"Listen to yourself! What did I do to you? I gave you pleasure! Don't even try to fucking deny it! Not once did I ever rape you!" Ken snaps. His hands grab Lucy's face. "Look into my eyes Lucy! Why can't you look into my eyes? Is it because you know you're lying? Say it to my face that I raped you!"

Lucy feels hot tears pool into her eyes. She can't speak. Only anger, hatred, pain and frustration wrack her body. Ken's angry face cools down and now he's laughing. "See? You can't say it. Because you know all that shit you said before was a lie."

"Ken, I never knew real pleasure." Lucy says with a shaky voice. Not once did she ask for sexual interaction. But... In a way, the two of them were both forced into it. "I was wrong. You never pleasured me, Ken. I didn't feel good. I felt dirty. That wasn't what sexual intercourse should have felt like. It's supposed to be filled with love. But anything was better than old men who didn't have a care in the world what happened to me. You never loved me. I never loved you."

"How the fuck do you know that?" Ken asks. His eyes are glistening.

Lucy's jaw drops. She shakes her head. There's no way Ken could have felt that way about her. Lucy feels a bit disgusted. "D-Did you love me?"

And just like that Ken's lips are on Lucy's. But only for a brief moment. So brief Lucy thinks she imagined it. But even in that brief moment, she could feel something... It wasn't something she felt, more like what Ken did. It was nothing like Natsu's kiss that she missed so much in that moment. Ken takes his hands off her face and pulls away. He shakes his head. "No, of course not."

Lucy touches her lips. His kiss wasn't the same from before. Lucy digs her fingernails into her palms and opens the door harshly. She stomps out of the office. She calls back behind her, "We'll find your damn treasure. We'll bring it back. Then we're done with you. HAPPY! HURRY UP!"

Not waiting for an answer or for Happy to come out, Lucy runs. She runs out the house and can feel the tears blur her vision. She runs as far as possible and sobs along the way. She shouldn't have come on her own. She shouldn't have left Natsu's side. Lucy screams as loud as she can and falls onto her knees. She cries into her hands.

"What... What have I... Done..." Lucy says in between sobs. Her body shakes. "N-Natsu... Natsu... NATSU!"

Lucy feels her chest tighten. She clutches her chest and whispers a, "I'm sorry..."

* * *

**A/N:**_ DAYUMMMM. This chapter was longer than I intended, oops. I know though, very dramatic. I hope no one decides to start hating Lucy. Even though she didn't really do anything wrong. But you know sometimes when you're innocent, you feel guilty anyway. That's how she feels._

_Keep PMing me guys! :D It puts a smile on my face and I'm glad to help in anyway I can!_

_Reviews would be greatly appreciated. :)_


	23. Hinder

"Like you're any more of a decent guy than I am!" Natsu shouts, throwing yet another punch at Gray. They've been going at it for about an hour.

Gray blocks and throws a punch of his own. "Yes, I am! Lucy thinks so too, otherwise she wouldn't have picked me to be her escort!"

"Not true!" Natsu dodges the punch and connects a punch to Gray's stomach.

"Yeah it is! I'm more trusted than you! Lucy even said so! Right, Lucy?" Gray questions.

"Tell him it's not true, Lucy!" Natsu demands. They both await an answer. When they both don't receive one, they finally stop glaring at one another to look around the room. Natsu's stomach drops in worry. He calls out into the nearly empty room. "Lucy?"

Relief washes over Natsu as he hears the bathroom door open, only to be crushed when his eyes meet with a scarlet haired S-Class Mage. Erza herself takes a look around. She sees the concern in both the males eyes. Erza questions the two, "Where's Lucy?"

Natsu jumps up like a cat. "What the fuck do you mean where's Lucy? How can you not know!"

"Natsu I understand you're worried, but calm down. She must be outside for fresh air or something." Erza says with poise. "She probably wanted to get away from the two of you's constant bickering. I can't blame her."

"Hey guys, she left a note." Gray says. Natsu turns his head in a flash. Gray walks over with a piece of paper. Natsu snatches it out of Gray's hand. Gray swallows hard. "It says she went to go see the requester on her own. And Happy wrote underneath it that he was going too."

Natsu's eyes scan the page over and over. That's definitely Lucy's scent and writing. How the hell had he not noticed?! Why the hell had he let her get out of his grasp?! She went to go see that fucker on her own! Natsu growls and tears the paper in half. He storms out the door. He announces to his team mates who follow shortly after him, "We're going to Shirotsume."

* * *

Lucy lays on the grass from where she had fallen to her knees. Her tears just kept falling. She doesn't know how long she's been laying on the grass. All she wants to do is find somewhere to sleep forever, but she's too weak to stand. Too weak to talk. Too weak to live.

"Lucy!" A voice calls from the distance. Lucy would sit up to find out who it is, but she is too exhausted. She doesn't even care who it is. If it's not Natsu, then it's not worth the trouble. Lucy sees a fluff of blur from her blurred vision. The little fluff is flying around, but is slowly coming closer to the ground. The little fluff says in a soft voice. "Aye... Lucy... Why are you crying...?"

"Happy!" Lucy exclaims, reaching up towards the cat. She grabs the exceed and crushes him into her chest. She lets out a few sobs. Happy doesn't say anything, which only makes Lucy feel worse. She wants him to fight back like he used to, so that she can pretend Happy doesn't see all the pain Lucy feels. But he does.

"LUCY!" Another voice calls from the distance, followed by two others.

Lucy's eyes widen. She springs up into a sitting position. Even from the lack of energy, she had to get up. From her blurred vision she can see three figures sprinting her way, leaded by someone with pink hair. Lucy only continues to sob. "Natsu!"

Natsu halts in front of Lucy, dropping to his knees. He pulls her into his chest. "I was worried sick... I'm so sorry for not paying attention... Is that why you're crying?"

Lucy doesn't reply, just cries more. She can hear Gray and Erza's footsteps become lighter as they stop running and slowly approach the couple. After a while, Gray's first to speak. "What were you thinking, ditching us to come here alone?"

"I-I didn't want to wait anymore..." Lucy says. Her sobs are stopping and her heartbeat is slowing down. Natsu was calming her down, making everything better. And yet, at the same time, making everything worse. She didn't deserve to be held in his arms. Not after what happened in that office. Not after what she _let_ happen in that office.

So she pulls away. She doesn't make eye contact with Natsu because she knows he's worried and it would kill her to see his face right now. She looks around her and realizes she never really made it too far from the mansion, only about a block. But it felt like a million. No wonder everyone had found her so easily.

"Lucy, why are you crying?" Erza questions. She places a hand on Lucy's shoulder, and pushes Natsu away. She signals for Natsu to move. Natsu only frowns further but stands up and moves over next to Gray. Erza turns back to Lucy. "Are you upset none of us realized you were gone?"

Lucy turns her head. That was a part of it, but not what was making her cry to this extent. Natsu sighs and slaps himself in the face. He turns to Gray. "Gray, punch me."

"What the fuck, why?!" Gray asks.

"Because I deserve it! Hurry up and do it before _I_ punch _you_!" Natsu orders.

"Stop!" Erza commands. "No one is punching anyone. Now apologize to Lucy."

Lucy shakes her head and stands. "No. I'm okay. I was just being a crybaby. Now let's get going. I have a feeling I know where Jasmine is hiding out."

Lucy pushes past Natsu, not wanting to look at him. It hurts even more knowing he's feeling guilty about not noticing her absence, when in reality the cause of her tears were her own fault and her own guilt she should be feeling. Natsu doesn't deserve to be lied to. But... Lucy doesn't want to lose him.

While walking to the train station, Natsu approaches Lucy. "Hey, Lucy... I'm so sorry. I'm really really sorry. I should have been the one to realize you were gone. I should have noticed it first. I shouldn't have even looked away from you for a second. I-"

"Natsu, please stop blaming yourself. It's not that, it's..." Lucy trails off. She almost said it. The pain in her chest re-emerges.

"It's...?" Natsu drags the word. He looks over at Lucy questioningly.

"It's because I failed again!" Lucy says. It's not a complete lie, this was another part for her frustration and tears. "I had her in my grasp, literally, and she got away! I could have stopped her! But I was the useless person on the mission again. It's all because of me that we have to stick around longer."

Lucy's eyes well up again. She turns her head to the side so Natsu doesn't see her wipe her cheek. Natsu clenches his jaw. "Lucy you're not useless at all. It's not your fault that bitch paralysed Gray and Erza. If you want someone to blame, blame me. I was right behind her and she jumped away. I had the perfect opportunity, Lucy, and I let it slip. Not you."

"It's different, Natsu... You weren't gonna attack her from behind. And you weren't the one hugging her." Lucy says softly.

Natsu sighs, there's no winning this argument no matter how much he pushed. So instead, he changes the topic. "So... You and Gray, huh? Some escort he was, leaving you. Tch. I wouldn't have done that, had you picked me to be your escort."

Lucy cracks a small smile. "Is Natsu Dragneel... _jealous_?"

"What? No!" Natsu denies. He turns the other cheek. Lucy giggles lightly. Natsu clears his throat. "So... How good of a dancer was he?"

Lucy raises a brow. "If you really want to know, why don't you go ask him for one right now?"

"As if!" Natsu nearly shouts. Her crosses his arms and turns the other cheek once more, signalling an end to the discussion. Lucy complies, feeling grateful for the silence. Natsu sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "So where are we going anyway?"

"Well Jasmine kept mentioning that we knew each other as children. Since she knew me as a child, and knows we're after her, there's only one place I could think of and it just seems so obvious to me." Lucy says proudly. "She must be waiting in the old Heartfilia mansion!"

"That's kind of far-fetched." Erza's voice calls out as she catches up to the two. Gray and Happy also come up to them. "But whatever type of lead we've got, we'll go with it. It's on you, Lucy."

Lucy nods her head in determination. This time, she was going to succeed.

* * *

Walking towards the mansion on it's own brought back so many memories. Of Layla, Ken, Michelle, the workers and employees, etc. Mostly Layla though. Lucy fights the urge to cry again, because then she would be weak. Too many tears for one day. But still, all the frustration is still there.

If Layla had still been around nothing would have happened. Lucy would have remained a normal child with a bright future instead of a tainted past. Only, Layla isn't to blame. You can't blame someone for their death. Everything must have happened for a reason. If those things didn't happen to her, Lucy and Natsu's relationship would not be nearly as intimate now.

They've been through a lot, and Lucy can already tell they'll go through much more. But everything, in a way, was worth it. Because even with all of her faults, Natsu stuck around. She has to return that favour. Otherwise, there's no point to her existence.

"Lucy?" Natsu calls, dragging out her name. He waves a hand in front of her face. Lucy snaps out of it and looks up at Natsu. Natsu points to the doors of the mansion. Lucy was so out of it, she hadn't realized they reached the house. "Are you sure it's here? The doors are locked from the outside."

"Well it wasn't like it was going to be open wide." Lucy says light-heartedly, cracking a smile. Natsu grins at the change in Lucy's mood. The grin causes Lucy's heart to clench, so she pushes past him to the pad lock that changed the doors together. Lucy looks over at Erza. "Do you think you could break the chains?"

"No need." Gray says. He steps up to the padlock with confidence. "Ice-Make: Key!"

Of course the key comes out perfect looking. Natsu huffs but Gray smirks. Lucy takes the key out of Gray's hands and sticks it into the lock and jiggles it around. "Thanks Gray."

The door opens with a click. As Lucy expected, the lights are on. Natsu moves past her, followed by Erza and Gray. Natsu turns to Lucy with a proud grin. "So should we look around or let the bitch come to us?"

"I'm so glad you're giving me options." A voice calls from the second floor. Jasmine grins widely as she makes her way down the winding staircase. "I'm really glad to see you! Even though you guys are not hostile at all whatsoever. In anyway, should we make this an instant death, or a brawl?"

"How about jail? That's where you'll be headed soon enough." Natsu retorts.

Jasmine laughs as if it was a joke a friend would tell a friend. She reaches the bottom of the stairs. "So before we start, I'd just like to say that 1. Lucy, you're such a bitch for not remembering me. 2. The item of Ken's that you want so bad, you can find that between yourselves. And 3. I can literally kill you in an instant, but I'll be... _nice_."

Lucy squints her eyes. Something about her does seem a bit familiar, but she can't put a name to it. Before she can voice this though, Gray places a hand on her shoulder. Lucy looks over her shoulder at Gray. Gray points to Natsu and whispers, "He's going to be first. I'm going to be second. Don't ask why, I have a hunch. You and Erza need to make a move immediately."

Lucy nods and looks over at the scarlet haired mage, who nods her head. Lucy reaches a hand to her keys. Jasmine smiles wide. "Oh look, the couple are saying goodbye to one another! How sweet."

Natsu clenches his teeth. Lucy places a hand on his arm. Natsu looks over his shoulder, about to say something to Gray, but instead a groan escapes his lips. His hands moves to touch his neck but he groans more. Natsu lets out a growl. "Fuck!"

"Don't move." Gray orders, walking in front of Lucy. "It must take quite a bit of magic power to do this spell. Are you sure you can paralyse all of us?"

"I don't need to. Three of you is enough." Jasmine replies. Her eyes move from Gray to Erza.

Lucy takes this chance to pull out a key. "Open! Gate of the ram! Aries!"

Erza takes the distraction as a chance to pull out a sword and run at Jasmine. Erza raises her sword for a strike, but she stops mid movement. Jasmine doesn't even look phased. Lucy grits her teeth. "Aries! Now!"

"Wool bomb!" Aries cries out. The pink wool hits the target. Lucy smiles. If she can keep this up then maybe she has a chance.

"Caught you." A voice calls from behind. Lucy turns to see George, but dodges the punch he throws at her. Okay, for a 14 year old, this kid was not as naive as he looked. He moves to trip Lucy. Lucy backs away and turns around, looking for Jasmine. A fist connects with her stomach. "Don't look away!"

"Aries!" Lucy calls out. Aries attacks George with more wool. Lucy moves out of the way, and finds Jasmine standing behind Aries. "Look out, Aries!"

Before anything can be done though, another punch hits Lucy in the face. Lucy looks at George. And she remembers.

* * *

**A/N:**_ What do you think? Hehe next chapter should be a bit more action packed. Reviews are always rewarded with a cookie ;)_


	24. Perseverance

"So beautiful, isn't it?" Lucy questions. She stares out into the ocean. The blue waves hitting the tide, the never ending blue. It was so peaceful and calm. As if behind all that blue, there could be a new life. One just as beautiful.

"It is."

Lucy turns to her left and sees the brunette hair move in the wind. He turns to look at her and she notices that his eyes are almost as blue as the ocean. Maybe they carried the same message as well. A new life, the two of them...

"Onee-san?" A soft voice calls out.

Lucy turns to see a little girl with purple hair. The little girl is holding a teddy bear. Now it clicks. This little girl is Jasmine. The owner of the beach house her family stayed at a couple of summers ago. Her hair is in pigtails and she has the innocent look of a child as she should. But there's still a creepy feeling emitting from her. Lucy feels her throat clog as she stares at the little girl who is nearly in tears. "What is it, Jasmine?"

"How come your papa is so much more rich than mine? It's not fair!" Jasmine whines.

"It's just the way it is." Lucy replies.

"But I want to be rich! I want money and treasure!"

Is this where Jasmine's money hungry attitude started? Lucy is about to console the little girl, tell her it's okay and that stealing isn't, when an all too familiar voice calls from inside the beach house. "Lucy! Come inside right now! I'd like to see you for a moment!"

A shiver crawls down Lucy's spine from the voice. She knows who it is and what he wants. Lucy looks over at the boy standing next to her. His brown hair hides his eyes. Lucy waits for him to object, to take her hand and run away with her, but instead she's met with silence. She hears her father yell impatiently, "_Now_!"

A yelp escapes Lucy's lips. She reluctantly turns to the beach house. With small steps, she leaves the brown haired boy and purple haired girl. "C-Coming father..."

* * *

"Lucy..." Natsu says with much effort. His eyes follow the blonde as she's knocked back a couple of steps due to the impact of George's punch. Lucy rubs her jaw and turns her head. She stares at Natsu's worried eyes and smiles. Natsu's stomach drops. How can she smile right now?

"Stop! Don't touch Aries!" Lucy orders to Jasmine. She pushes George with as much force as she can. "I remember you! I remember the beach house we always played at! I remember you always talking about my wealth! I remember! So don't touch Aries!"

Jasmine laughs and flips her hair. "Too late. You should have remembered sooner. You won't be using this spirit for quite a while now will you?"

George kicks Lucy in the side, knocking her down.

Aries screams as Jasmine yanks her by the hair. Lucy's eyes widen. Aries muscles have already been tightened, Jasmine is torturing her by moving her around. Anger boils through Lucy as she screams at the top of her lungs, "STOP!"

"Heh, that was amusing." Jasmine says. She lets go of Aries with a jerk and throws her aside. Jasmine follows where the spirit landed, and kicks her. "I don't know how spirits can die, but they can definitely feel torture."

Lucy's eyes brim with tears. In a shaky voice, she yells, "Gate of the Ram, close!"

Aries slowly fades away. Lucy stands and lets out a scream. One of anger, frustration, betrayal, and _hatred_. And with that she flings herself at Jasmine, her hand clenched and ready for a punch. Slowly as she keeps making her way, she can feel her muscles ache. Jasmine was placing her spell on Lucy.

But Lucy pushes through. She has to. She has to do this for Aries. With what remains of Lucy's strength, she punches Jasmine.

Jasmine gasps. She obviously hadn't expected for Lucy to keep coming at her. She holds her cheek. Anger and impatience courses through her. Turning her head to stare at Lucy, she growls, "You little bitch,"

Lucy connects another fist to Jasmine's jaw, earning another gasp. Lucy was so completely taken over by adrenaline of her powerful feelings that she couldn't feel any part of her body. With another spurt of anger, Lucy kicks Jasmine on the side.

"GEORGE!" Jasmine screams.

Natsu stares in awe of Lucy. They all do. Even George is staring in awe as Lucy throws another punch, then another, followed with a kick. Natsu smiles, even though it hurt. If this hurt, he can't imagine how Lucy felt right now. These were the reasons why he loves her.

Jasmine finally manages to grip Lucy's wrist in her hand. She forces Lucy back. Tears stream down Lucy's cheeks. For Aries, who suffered so much, Lucy wasn't going to allow herself to go through the same treatment. Lucy screams and releases her own force, knocking Jasmine down.

George moves to attack Lucy, but all Lucy does is turn her neck and send him the scariest death glare that even Erza had to admire. George freezes and steps back multiple steps. Lucy bends down and takes Jasmine's collar in her fists. "Where is Ken's treasure?!"

"I should have killed you the moment I laid eyes on you in the party." Jasmine sneers. Her voice holds so much disgust and hatred, Lucy is flabbergasted. She has no idea why this girl feels such strong emotions about her.

"Spare me the sob story. I already know everything. I know your father passed away the last day we went to the beach house." Lucy says, tears still streaming down her face. Jasmine's eyes water. Lucy continues. "You lost everything, didn't you? All your money? Guess what? So did I. So did Ken. You lost your father? So did I. You have a mother? I don't. Get over whatever you hate me for because I'm not here to hear about it."

Jasmine knocks Lucy's hands away. "You left me! That day my father died! You left! I hate you for leaving me alone! I had no one!"

"You had your mother. And I didn't know your father would die that day." Lucy says, moving into a sitting position. "I was miserable, Jasmine. You have no idea."

"And _you_ have no idea how miserable _I_ was! How Ken was! You never cared about any of us back then! You just did whatever you wanted and used us. You spoiled the Heartfilia name." Jasmine pulls her self into a sitting position as well. "I hate your voice. I hate your face. I don't want anything to do with you."

"Great, because I have no intentions of sticking around." Lucy says, standing up. "Tell me where the treasure is so I can leave your life for good."

Jasmine reaches into her pocket. She also stands up. With a glare, Jasmine pulls out something from her pocket. "Promise to stay away from me for the rest of our lives? I swear to God no matter what, I will never be able to forgive you for abandoning us."

"I promise." Lucy holds out her hand. Jasmine places a piece of paper in Lucy's hand and walks past the blonde. She pulls George behind her and pushes past Lucy's team mates, who all groan from the sudden movement. And she's gone.

Lucy flips the piece of paper to find that it's not a piece of paper. It's a photo. Of a little brunette boy smiling next to a blonde girl. And a sigh escapes Lucy's lips. Realizations courses through her. Not having any more strength, Lucy drops to the ground and sees black.

* * *

Lucy had been too exhausted to continue. Too exhausted to feel anything. So when she wakes up to find herself in her old bed, she doesn't care. About the memories or anything. All she cares about is the pinkette laying next to her, his hands holding her tightly by the waist.

His face looks so peaceful. Lucy traces a finger over his sharp features. She feels a sharp pain from her movements and realizes she was receiving the aftermath of that muscle spell. Lucy feels sorry for not helping Gray and Erza the morning after the spell wore off. She really wished someone would help her.

"He carried you in here after you fainted." Lucy slowly turns her head to the door. She sees Happy shyly creeping into the room. He's holding onto the door frame, looking almost scared to enter. "Even though he was hurting, he helped you. He said you made him proud."

Lucy smiles and breathes out as best as she can, "Come in... Happy. I'm not... Gonna eat you."

Happy slowly walks in. He approaches the bed. Lucy's nose twitches. She can smell fish. Happy holds one out to her. "I brought you breakfast..."

"Thanks... But I'm not-hungry." Lucy says with difficulty. She can feel her stomach growling silently but she wasn't one to eat raw fish. Not while it's still in its fish form, that is. Maybe if Happy learned to cook his fish, then Lucy would gladly eat it. Maybe Mira should give Happy cooking lessons.

Happy takes back the fish and takes a large bite from it. He moves over to where Natsu is sleeping and slaps him with the fish. "Wake up Natsu!"

Natsu groans and rubs his eyes. He turns to face Lucy. A small smile graces his face and he pulls her in closer. He buries himself within Lucy's hair, smelling her shampoo. He places a kiss on the spot. "You did amazing, Lucy."

Lucy sighs. Her muscles are still screaming. She grips Natsu's scarf in her hands. "Why does it-hurt so bad... For me and not... For you...?"

Natsu's thumb rubs the small of her back softly. "You pushed yourself more. Like, a lot. And you fought a lot harder than I thought you could, even with that stupid spell that was meant to bound you. It was extremely impressive."

"But... You did too... When you-carried me here..." Lucy says with effort. Her throat is clamped shut. She can move around but she feels massively sore afterwards. "Why did you push through, anyway?"

"I wasn't just about to leave my girlfriend laying on the ground with her panties visible for Gray to see." Natsu jokes. Lucy blushes in embarrassment.

"Right. That red thong was meant for you." Lucy throws back with a wink.

"Uhm. Gross."

The pair strain their necks to look at the door. Gray and Erza are standing there with slightly disgusted looks on their faces. Erza is first to speak. "We've completed the mission. Time to head back to the requester and receive our reward. Lucy, are you able to stand?"

"I don't think so..." Lucy nearly whispers. She tries coughing to clear her throat, but to no avail. "I need to shower..."

"Of course that's the first thing you'd like to do when you wake up." Gray says. He walks over to Lucy's side of the bed. His hands are reaching to lift her but he quickly pulls his hands away when Natsu slaps them. "What the hell dipshit?"

"What the hell are you thinking? Taking my girl to the bathroom and stripping her so she can shower? And while you're like that?" Natsu growls. Gray clears his throat as he looks to find himself almost completely naked. Natsu stands up slowly, pushing past the soreness in his body. "I'll take her."

Erza sighs. "Get the hell back down. I'll do it."

With (not surprisingly) ease, Erza lifts Lucy into her arms and heads to the bathroom. When the two ladies exit the room, Natsu glares at Gray. "Pervert."

"I'm a good guy!" Gray defends.

"Pervertedness is not good." Natsu throws back. He makes a move to attack Gray but winces.

Gray smirks, slowly approaching the dragon slayer. His hands get into position as he deviously sneers, "Payback time, flame brain."

Lucy can hear the racket of the fight even with the shower water on full blast. She chooses to ignore it and allow the scolding hot water to ease her muscles. Erza stands watch, just in case Lucy were to collapse in there. Lucy grins and continues washing herself.

"Since we can hear their noises, why don't we give them some noises to hear as well?" Erza asks suddenly. Lucy looks over her shoulder to see a glint in Erza's eyes that spoke trouble. But, it definitely sounds like fun.

The two boys outside are tearing at each other's throats when sudenly they both freeze. They can hear Lucy's voice screaming, "No, not there, Erza! Kyaaa!"

"Shhhhh Lucy," Erza's voice says seductively.

Natsu and Gray stare at eachother for a good minute in complete shock, then Gray faints, landing on Natsu. Natsu pushes the ice boy off and tries to stand himself, but ends up losing consciousness as well when she hears more moans escape the bathroom.

Lucy and Erza's ears are glued to the bathroom door. When they hear the sound of two bodies smack the ground they laugh. The boys have finally stopped fighting. The mission is definitely accomplished now.

* * *

**A/N:** _I hope you guys laughed xD I tried adding a bit of humour since I've been absent for a while. _  
_Guess what guys?! I have a life! *gasps from every single person on Earth* I know, it's shocking. :P I've been so busy and there is still so much more to do! (Grad Banquet this Friday!)_

_I didn't intend for this story to have a 'somewhat' triangle in it, with Ken and all, so it's not even a big deal. There's no way she'll end up with him, so don't get angry xD_


End file.
